Citizens of the Sea

🌊 2024: 𝐀 𝐘𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐌𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐂𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐳𝐞𝐧𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐞𝐚 🌊 As we close out an incredible year, we want to take a moment to celebrate the achievements of Citizens of the Sea in 2024. It’s been a year of growth, innovation, and collaboration, and we couldn’t have done it without the incredible support of our community. Here’s a quick look at what we’ve accomplished: ⛵We officially launched COTS in April, equipping 26 𝐲𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐭𝐬, a 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡 𝐯𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐥, a 𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐨𝐚𝐭 currently collecting data during the Vendée Globe, a 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐯𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐥, and traditional 𝐖𝐚𝐤𝐚𝐬 with our innovative eDNA sampling toolkits. 🌍 Over the year, we’ve collected 1,000+ 𝐬𝐞𝐚 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐞𝐃𝐍𝐀 𝐬𝐚𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐬 across vast stretches of the open ocean, from New Zealand to Fiji and Tonga. We’ve already produced and analyzed 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 1 𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐃𝐍𝐀 𝐬𝐞𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐬, mapping marine biodiversity and ocean health at an unprecedented scale. 🔬 We ran 𝐭𝐰𝐨 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐟𝐮𝐥 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐩𝐬 with our citizen sailors and a wide range of stakeholders, from scientists to local communities, strengthening our connections and building a shared vision for ocean conservation. 💡 We’ve successfully established ourselves as a 𝐧𝐨𝐭-𝐟𝐨𝐫-𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐟𝐢𝐭 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐓𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐭, securing the necessary support to scale up operations in 2025 and beyond. The future is bright, and we’re excited to continue pushing the boundaries of marine research and conservation. As we head into the holiday season, we want to extend our deepest gratitude to all our partners, supporters, and volunteers who have made this year possible. 🌟 Wishing everyone a restful and joyful holiday season! Here's to a 𝐛𝐢𝐠𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 2025, where we continue to map, protect, and celebrate the ocean together. 🌊 Illumina, Live Ocean, The International SeaKeepers Society, Island Cruising NZ Ltd, Sequench, Smith-Root Inc., VEPA (Karen Stone), Reef Explorer Fiji, QIAGEN, Thermo Fisher Scientific, Kernohan Engineering, KiwiNet, Esri ArcGIS Online, Resn, Chapman Tripp, Pacific Fund, The University of Auckland, Divevolk, Conservation International and the Tongan Voyaging Society, Subsea Environmental Services, The Ocean Race and Fabrice Amedeo at Ocean Calling. #CitizensOfTheSea #MarineConservation #eDNA #OceanHealth #Sustainability #VendeeGlobe #MarineScience #2024Achievements #LookingAhead

Citizens of the Sea is thrilled to be working with Subsea Environmental Services and their flagship vessel, MV Rebecca—a re-purposed general cargo ship working to restore the seabed by recycling retired submarine cables. Just before MV Rebecca set out on a recovery voyage, we equipped the vessel with the DNAutic eDNA sampling system and Subsea engineers collected valuable samples across the Southwest Pacific.   The results? 17.5 million DNA sequences spanning diverse marine life, helping us map shifts in species, detect invasive threats, and monitor rare species. This work builds our global biodiversity database, supporting impactful ocean conservation and informed ecosystem management. #OceanConservation #MarineBiodiversity #OceanHealth #CitizenScience

𝐂𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐳𝐞𝐧𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐞𝐚 𝐏𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐞𝐃𝐍𝐀 𝐂𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐧 𝐕𝐞𝐧𝐝é𝐞 𝐆𝐥𝐨𝐛𝐞 𝐑𝐚𝐜𝐞 Citizens of the Sea had the incredible opportunity to be present in Les Sables d’Olonne for the start of the Vendée Globe 2024. Surrounded by the passion of hundreds of thousands of people, we witnessed the launch of 40 legendary sailors, each embarking on an unassisted, solo circumnavigation of the globe - a race that pushes human endurance and ocean exploration to their absolute limits. 🌍⛵ In an exciting first for ocean science, skipper Fabrice Amedeo has equipped his yacht with Citizens of the Sea’s semi-automatic eDNA sampler, collecting daily ocean DNA samples along his journey. He is the only skipper in this race capturing real-time environmental data, microplastics, and eDNA, providing a groundbreaking global biogeochemical dataset from some of the most remote oceanic regions. These efforts don’t just capture the awe-inspiring scale of the race; they contribute essential knowledge about marine biodiversity across the globe. Through the integration of biophysical data, we are unveiling patterns of ocean life at an unprecedented scale - key to understanding our rapidly changing seas. This is only the beginning. Our goal is to refine our methods with Fabrice’s data, then scale eDNA sampling across a larger fleet for the Vendée Globe 2028, enabling a new era of biodiversity discovery and ocean conservation. A huge thank you to Fabrice Amedeo and his team for their incredible support in bringing this vision to life, and to Laura LE GOFF, Gilles Sallé, and French Minister Fabrice Loher for the valuable discussions and interest in our work. #VendéeGlobe #IMOCA #eDNA #CitizenScience #OceanConservation

𝗦𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗲 𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝘀𝘂𝗰𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀 - 𝟭.𝟱𝗠𝗞𝗺𝟮 𝗼𝗳 𝗢𝗰𝗲𝗮𝗻 𝗲𝗗𝗡𝗔 𝗶𝗻 𝟰 𝗺𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗵𝘀 / 𝗖𝗶𝘁𝗶𝘇𝗲𝗻𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝗲𝗮 Over the past five months, our sailors have been hard at work, collecting an incredible 715 surface open ocean eDNA samples as part of the Pacific Rally 2024. 🌏⛵️🧬 • We have already processed 500 samples from 1.5M square kilometres of ocean surface collected during the first passage to Tonga and Fiji! • Over 1 Billion DNA sequences have been identified, uncovering traces of life in the ocean from microbes to whales! The scale of this project is set to revolutionise how we monitor and understand ocean health on a global level. Biodiversity data can inform marine spatial planning and protection, and can help predict ecological changes and assess the impact of climate change by refining and ground-truthing computational models. This citizen science project can cover a wider area and longer timeframe at considerably lower cost than traditional methods… 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝘄𝗲 𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗱 𝗳𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗲 𝘂𝗽 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗮𝗰𝗰𝗲𝗹𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘃𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗹 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸. If you represent a significant institution, organisation or philanthropist and are interested in partnering to make a meaningful impact on ocean science and conservation, please get in touch with our project lead 👉 mary@citizensofthesea.org. Together, we can map the ocean’s health and protect its future 💙 #OceanHealth #CitizenScience #eDNA #MarineConservation #Biodiversity #GlobalOceanData

🌊 Exciting week for citizen science in Fiji! 🌊 Last week, Citizens of the Sea hosted a vibrant series of workshops in Fiji. We kicked off in Suva with a seminar at The University of the South Pacific, where we also connected with key stakeholders like katy soapi from Pacific Community-SPC, and Joeli Veitayaki & Rufino Varea, all of whom play critical roles in marine conservation and community development in the region. We then travelled to Musket Cove, to join citizen science sailors, local communities and NGO’s. Particular thanks goes to Reef Explorer Fiji (Victor Bonito) for his generosity, and to Illumina, who funded the workshops that enabled us to come together, connect, and share what has been learnt. Day 1 - Sailors had a unique opportunity to explore coral reefs and learn about climate change from Austin Bowden-Kerby. They visited the BULA reef coral nursery, an inspiring project supported by UNESCO, for an immersive and educational experience. Day 2 -  High-calibre presentations and discussions were had with over 50 attendees, including sailors, scientists, the Ministry of Fisheries Fiji, and local NGOs. Highlights included talks from Victor Bonito on coral reefs and conservation and Jone Waitiati on his work protecting the Rainbow Reef. James Frankham from New Zealand Geographic, shared the 3D coral reef models generated by Citizens of the Sea sailors, which can help monitor coral health, diversity and invasive species. Melissa White from The International SeaKeepers Society and Belen Jimenez from NIWA showcased seabed mapping efforts from Citizens of the Sea vessels that are contributing to the global Seabed 2030 initiative, while Anastasija Zaiko from Sequench and Xavier Pochon from Cawthron Institute presented groundbreaking eDNA data revealing patterns of ocean life across the South West Pacific. We’re thrilled by the valuable feedback and discussions with sailors on recruiting, training, operations, and outreach efforts. A massive thanks to all our partners for supporting this important work to safeguard our blue planet: Illumina, Live Ocean, The International SeaKeepers Society, Island Cruising NZ Ltd, Sequench, Smith-Root Inc., VEPA (Karen Stone), Reef Explorer Fiji, QIAGEN, Thermo Fisher Scientific, Kernohan Engineering, KiwiNet, Esri ArcGIS Online, Resn, Chapman Tripp, Embassy of France in New Zealand (Pacific Fund), The University of Auckland, DiveVolk, Conservation International and the Tongan Voyaging Society, Subsea Environmental Services, and Fabrice Amedeo at Ocean Calling.   🌍💙 #MarineConservation #CitizenScience #OceanHealth

🌊 Exciting News! Citizens of the Sea is heading to Fiji next week for fantastic exchanges with local scientists, ministries, NGOs, local communities, and our incredible citizen sailors. In just under two months, we've generated 257 million high-quality DNA sequence reads, unveiling new patterns of ocean life across the Southwest Pacific. We’re also bringing sensor data (Seabed 2030) and 3D coral reef models created by our citizen sailors, to foster new research collaborations. We can’t wait to engage, learn, and collaborate with the vibrant conservation community in Fiji! 🌏🧬 #CitizensOfTheSea #MarineConservation #OceanScience #FijiBound

Check out this must-watch recording of Xavier Pochon, Chief Scientist for Citizens of the Sea and a leading researcher at the Cawthron Institute, as he dives into the crucial role seafarers play in mapping ocean health at scale! https://lnkd.in/gyvhq93E

Within one month, Citizens of the Sea sailors have collected hundreds of environmental DNA samples across the South-West Pacific and Atlantic Oceans in a mission to contribute to marine biodiversity monitoring. This World Ocean Day, make waves by engaging in a citizens science initiative, educational workshop, or beach cleanup in your area. Together, we can deepen our understanding of the oceans and take meaningful action to preserve them for generations to come. ⛵ #WorldOceanDay #CitizenSailors #eDNA #UNoceanDecade

Citizens of the Sea was in New York this week to promote our program, and what an incredible week it was! We had the privilege of networking with renowned sailors, ocean conservation advocates, foundations, and commercial partners. A special thank you to Fabrice Amedeo for the fantastic tour of his racing boat (Nexans-WeWise) and for the invaluable samples collected during the CIC Transat in preparation for the Vendée Globe 🙌 We also extend our gratitude to John Theodoracopulos and Charles Enright at SubSea, Charlie Wilkinson at New Zealand Trade and Enterprise, the von Liebig Foundation, Boris Herrmann for his kind invitation to the Protecting Our High Seas conference, Sylvia Earle for her most inspiring presentation, and Claire Vayer and Imogen D. from the IMOCA Sustainability Team. Together, we're making waves for ocean conservation! 🌊💙 #OceanConservation #Networking #Sustainability #CitizensOfTheSea #NewYork

Citizens of the Sea going strong in the South West Pacific with close to 250 eDNA samples collected in just 10 days. This is a testament that our user-friendly TorpeDNA device and ArcGIS sample scanner at sea are fit for purpose and we are so grateful to our devoted Citizen Sailors who are instrumental to mapping ocean health at scale. We are grateful to our partners and sponsors who are supporting us in this journey: Illumina, Cawthron Institute, New Zealand Geographic, QIAGEN, ArcGIS Survey 123, Island Cruising NZ Ltd, Live Ocean, The International SeaKeepers Society, Sequench, Smith-Root Inc., KiwiNet.