Research

● The detection of ocean plastic pollution remains very dependent on tedious site surveys and visual identification of images, both of which require extensive time and human resources.
● Since the late 2010s, academic research has tested artificial intelligence and computer vision approaches that make use of deep-learning algorithms to address this problem.
● Although increased automation may pave the way for more frequent detection over wider areas, emerging solutions will still have to contend with constraints in the field and a lack of algorithm training data.