Marine Institute

Please, note that this X account is no longer actively monitored.

To stay up to date with the latest news, research updates, events and opportunities from the Marine Institute, we invite you to follow us on:

🔗 LinkedIn - Marine Institute

📸 Instagram - marineinstituteireland

👍 Facebook - Marine Institute - Foras na Mara

🌐 Marine.ie

We look forward to continuing the conversation with you on our other social channels.

🌊Thank you for your continued interest and support!

🌊🤖 A new international study highlights how Europe’s Digital Twin of the Ocean (DTO) can become an active, adaptive monitoring system, and the Marine Institute’s SmartBay underwater observatory in Galway Bay is already playing a key role.

The Digital Twin of the Ocean is a digital replica of real marine environments, combining data from sensors, research surveys, fisheries and even citizen observations to help scientists and policymakers better understand ocean conditions and human impacts.

📡 SmartBay’s cabled infrastructure provides continuous, high-resolution biological and environmental data, forming the basis of a four-dimensional Digital Twin of Galway Bay.

Together with Spain’s OBSEA observatory, and through @DIGI4ECO EU-funded project, SmartBay is helping turn Digital Twins into practical tools for marine restoration, policy and sustainable ocean management across Europe.

Find out more: marine.ie/site-area/news…

🐦🌊 Our research on oystercatcher birds in Dundalk Bay was featured on @rtenews this weekend, highlighting how Marine Institute scientists are working with citizens to protect vulnerable habitats and fisheries.

Using GPS trackers and leg flags, researchers are mapping where birds feed, how they move around the bay, and how their feeding areas overlap with cockle beds. This helps build the evidence needed to support sustainable fisheries management while safeguarding this protected coastal ecosystem.

📸 Pictured is Natasha Murphy, Scientific & Technical Officer (STO) – Vulnerable Marine Ecosystems Assessments, Fisheries Ecosystem Advisory Service.

👀 If you spot an oystercatcher with a white leg flag and three-letter code, you can report the sighting and contribute directly to the research.

👉 Read the full story and watch the video on the RTÉ website to learn more: rte.ie/news/regional/…

🌊📊The Marine Institute has just published the Ocean Economy Report 2025, revealing how our marine and coastal sectors are contributing to jobs, growth and regional development across the country.

The report explores 13 marine sectors, from tourism, seafood and shipping to offshore renewables, blue biotech and marine technology, with trend analysis over 5, 10 and 15 years, showing how the ocean economy is evolving, recovering and growing.

It also compares Ireland’s performance with the wider EU Blue Economy, helping policymakers, researchers, industry and communities understand where opportunities and challenges lie.

👉 Download the full report from the Marine Institute website to explore the findings in detail: marine.ie/site-area/news…

🌊🗺️ Using participatory research to include local knowledge in conservation decisions. This month, the

@BioProtect_EU Project joined the Stripe Young Scientist & Technology Exhibition in Dublin, where visitors from across Ireland helped researchers map what matters most in our coastal and marine environments.

Using Participatory Mapping (PPGIS), people shared: 📍 places they value
📍 places they’re concerned about

This community-led data will support researchers from the Marine Institute and the University of Galway in identifying priority areas for conservation, helping ensure local knowledge informs decisions on Marine Protected Areas and Marine Spatial Planning.

🗺️ The insights from the event are now pinned on the map of Ireland shown here, do you spot places that matter to you?

💬 Tell us in the comments what you’d add, or which coastal and marine areas you think deserve extra care.

🔗 Learn more about the project: bioprotect-project.eu

#BioProtect #MarineConservation #PPGIS #CitizenScience #MarinePlanning #IrishWaters