The evidence layer, explained plainly
Research summaries translate peer-reviewed science into accessible language without losing precision. Dataset cards document the open data sources every artifact builds on.
Research summaries
Acoustic Monitoring of Cetaceans 2026
Passive Acoustic Monitoring (PAM) is a powerful method for surveying marine mammal distributions, migratory timings, and behavior patterns. By using deep ocean hydrophone arrays, researchers capture vocalizations across
Ocean Governance Frameworks in 2026: Ocean Decade, SDG 14, 30x30, and the High Seas Treaty
Most ocean work — a field mission, a region briefing, a partner's grant — sits inside one or more of these frameworks. Knowing them lets a contributor connect a local artifact to a global commitment, which is exactly wha
Dataset cards
The open datasets that power the commons and the Ocean Intelligence System connectors — what they contain, how they are licensed, and how to use them well.
Dataset Card: GBIF — Global Biodiversity Information Facility
GBIF is an international, government funded open data infrastructure providing access to hundreds of millions of biodiversity occurrence records plus a unified backbone taxonomy. For ocean work it complements OBIS: broad
Dataset Card: iNaturalist — Citizen-Science Observations API
iNaturalist is a global citizen science platform where people record species observations with photos and community identifications. It is a rich source of recent, geographically broad occurrence data — and a place the p
Dataset Card: NOAA Coral Reef Watch — 5km Bleaching Heat-Stress Products
NOAA Coral Reef Watch (CRW) operates satellite based monitoring of coral reef thermal stress. Its daily global 5km (v3.1) product suite turns sea surface temperature into the earliest legible warning of bleaching risk. T
Dataset Card: OBIS — Ocean Biodiversity Information System
OBIS (the Ocean Biodiversity Information System) is a global, open access platform run under IOC UNESCO that integrates, quality controls, and serves marine species occurrence records — over 100 million records of roughl
Dataset Card: Protected Planet — World Database on Protected Areas (WDPA)
Protected Planet is the public interface to the World Database on Protected Areas (WDPA), maintained by UNEP WCMC with IUCN. It is the authoritative global dataset of marine and terrestrial protected areas — boundaries,
Dataset Card: WoRMS — World Register of Marine Species
WoRMS is the authoritative register of marine species names, maintained by a global community of taxonomic editors. It is the backbone that OBIS reconciles its taxonomy against, so a name resolved in WoRMS is the name th