Latin American and Caribbean Ocean Biomolecular Observation Network Latin America and the Caribbean lack coordinated efforts to use DNA‑based data to address marine biodiversity loss. To bridge this gap, regional institutions created LACOBON, the Latin American and Caribbean Ocean Biomolecular Observation Network, first presented at the 2024 Ocean Decade Conference and COP16, where it received […]
BIOcean5D – “Biodiversity across Space, Time and Human scales” – is a coherent assemblage of technologies, protocols, and models allowing holistic re-exploration of marine biodiversity, from viruses to mammals, from genomes to holobionts, across multiple spatial and temporal scales stretching from pre-industrial to today. A focus is to understand pan-European biodiversity across 21 coastal countries
Citizen science and environmental DNA (eDNA) are powerful tools for closing the gaps in our knowledge of ocean biodiversity. Citizens of the Sea, a New Zealand-based charitable trust, is harnessing these tools to monitor life across the offshore Pacific and the wider global ocean, where traditional research vessels rarely reach. Our goal is to build
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Bio-GO-SHIP is an international collaborative initiative integrating systematic biological observations into the global repeat hydrography network. The project collects standardized metagenomics, metatranscriptomics, pigments, imaging, and optical data alongside traditional physical and chemical oceanographic measurements to quantify pelagic plankton diversity and its feedback on global biogeochemical cycles. Data are managed under open-access, FAIR principles to accelerate
[Top left to right: RoCSI (image credit: NOC), Microscopic image of Karenia spp. Bottom: L4 buoy with PML Pioneer + RoCSI]. Autonomous samplers and sensors for marine ‘omics TechOmics is an initiative to design and develop diverse autonomous deployable biomolecular sensors and samplers to map and understand marine life. Our ongoing developments increase the performance
Management areas (coloured) of herring stocks assessed by ICES are defined by geographic boundaries. Many management areas overlap, but stock discrimination is not accounted for, except in the Skagerrak (light green vs. orange). Location of baseline population samples (blue) and project partners (red) are marked. Basic knowledge of the spatiotemporal occurrence of populations in marine
The “eDNA expeditions II” project is a citizen-science initiative designed to establish repeated eDNA sampling across marine protected areas. This project will expand access to marine biodiversity knowledge, particularly in underrepresented regions, while strengthening engagement with the ocean worldwide. Building on the success of the first eDNA expeditions (2022-2024), this new phase will scale up
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![[Image: Taken on a campaign for biopsies from sperm whales, humpbacks and pilot whales outside Andenes in Northern Norway based on R/V Helmer Hansen. Credit: Sofie Søderstrøm]](https://obon-ocean.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Helmer-Hansen-and-sperm-whale-biopsy-taking-Sofie.002-e1760011202241-1024x382.png)
[Image: Taken on a campaign for biopsies from sperm whales, humpbacks and pilot whales outside Andenes in Northern Norway based on R/V Helmer Hansen. Credit: Sofie Søderstrøm] Whales and polar bears in a petri dish: decoding marine mammal toxicology through in vitro and in silico approaches Large marine mammals, including polar bears and whales, fill
The Australian Microbiome (AM) is a nationwide, collaborative project established in 2019 to characterise microbial diversity across Australia’s terrestrial and marine environments. It builds on previous initiatives and has been supported by a consortium of over 40 institutions, including government, research, and industry partners. AM enables large-scale spatial and temporal studies by resourcing the collection,
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In human and veterinary medicine, blood is the most valuable sample to use to assess health status, as most health variables from multiple metabolic processes and organs are reflected there in real time. However, there is no practical method to obtain blood samples from large free-swimming cetaceans. While possible for smaller species, it obligates the
