Project duration: September 2024 – March 2025

Led by the Scottish Islands Federation, this project aims to enhance the ability of drone technology to identify marine litter

The Challenge

Marine litter surveys are crucial for building the evidence base for policy change. Until now, surveys have predominantly taken the form of volunteer surveys, through the Citizen Science initiative MCS Beachwatch.

While undoubtedly unique and important in bridging the gap between local communities and national policy, beach surveys are time and labour intensive, relying on the tireless efforts of local volunteers to combine surveying with beach cleans.

Artificial intelligence (AI) has the potential to revolutionise marine litter surveys – automating data collection and allowing volunteers to focus on marine litter removal.

One of the marine litter drones in action. Photo courtesy of SIF.

Marine litter on Scottish Islands

The Scottish Islands Federation, specifically their Marine Litter Working Group, have been instrumental in increasing marine litter data collection across the Scottish Islands. In 2023, through collaboration with the Marine Conservation Society (MCS) and funding from HIEF and others, the number of annual surveys increased from 67 to 156 (more here).

Key results from the annual report highlight the difference in types of marine litter found on islands compared to the mainland, for example 59% of marine litter found on island beach came from marine-industry sources. On the mainland this figure was just 15%. These distinctions highlight a clear need to incorporate island data into national data when creating AI technologies.

The Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture (CEFAS), based in Suffolk, are training an algorithm to identify marine litter on beaches UK wide.

This grant will allow SIF to contribute to the refinement of this algorithm by directly collecting drone data on islands beaches. The £7,500 awarded is going towards a mixture of equipment, travel, training, and staff time costs.

Images from October 2024, taken before and after Strom Ashley, reveal the impact of extreme weather on marine litter distribution, with much of the litter blown behind the beach into grass and rushes.