Backed by a £3.75M award from the Advanced Research + Invention Agency (ARIA) - the UK Government’s new high-risk, high-reward funding agency - the CANARY project, led by researchers at the Marine Biological Association (MBA) and University of Plymouth (UoP), is set to revolutionise climate forecasting by focusing on plankton as the “canaries in the coalmine” of ocean health.
Plankton are the ocean’s pulse. These microscopic organisms fuel entire ecosystems, drive global carbon cycles, and respond rapidly to environmental shifts, making them powerful early-warning indicators of impending climate tipping points.
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At the heart of CANARY is an ambitious vision that merges cutting-edge plankton imaging technologies with AI-powered data pipelines. The project aims to establish an innovative, scalable, and sustainable system to track plankton dynamics across climate-sensitive regions such as Greenland and Iceland.
Constellation deployments
AI-integrated holographic plankton imaging will be deployed in constellation deployments using commercial vessels (“ships of opportunity” such as ferries or container ships), newly developed autonomous underwater robots, and even as biologging tags attached to filter-feeding ocean giants, such as whales.
CANARY will integrate these new sensing systems with longstanding global plankton monitoring data, notably building on the legacy of the Continuous Plankton Recorder (CPR) Survey based at the MBA.
The project is led by a team of ARIA R&D Creators:
- Dr Lilian Lieber, Research Fellow at the MBA and Senior Research Fellow at UoP, and Prof Alex Nimmo-Smith, Professor of Marine Science and Technology (UoP), leading on sensor innovation and new platform deployments.
- Dr Clare Ostle, CPR Survey Research Fellow (MBA), leading on the environmental forecasting of plankton as part of the early warning system.
The team also brings together technical specialists, data engineers, and operational experts with decades of experience in building new sensing systems, establishing CPR routes, and populating global plankton data repositories.
Gliding robots
A key element of CANARY is its collaboration with Blue Ocean Marine Tech Systems, who will deploy next-generation autonomous underwater robots. These robots are engineered to glide through the water column and deliver near real-time observations in rapidly changing regions of the North Atlantic subpolar gyre.
With a rich legacy of pioneering ocean research, Plymouth is recognised as a global centre of excellence in plankton science. It is also at the forefront of marine technology innovation, bringing together leading research institutions and industry partners to develop cutting-edge solutions for ocean observing and sustainability.
“The CANARY project pushes the boundaries of ocean sensor technology, driving scalable innovation as part of a cutting-edge, highly collaborative program,” says Dr Lilian Lieber.
Game-changing opportunity
Prof Alex Nimmo Smith adds, “We are deeply committed to focusing our biological lens on climate shifts. This is a game-changing opportunity to merge sensor innovation, AI, and long-term monitoring—advancing ocean observation like never before.”
Dr Clare Ostle emphasises, “By blending cutting-edge technology with decades of global-scale plankton monitoring, we’re creating a system that doesn’t just observe change, but predicts critical ocean shifts.”
The CANARY project, working alongside other ARIA Creators, marks the beginning of a new era in ocean forecasting—ensuring a proactive response to climate threats before they reach the point of no return. ARIA is an R&D funding agency created to unlock technological breakthroughs. It is enabling this ambitious project through its Forecasting Tipping Points programme, co-led by Programme Directors Gemma Bale and Sarah Bohndiek. Backed by £81m over five years, the programme will unite 27 international teams in a collaborative effort to detect the earliest signs of climate tipping points. Established by the UK Government and backed by £800m, ARIA supports bold, disruptive innovations to tackle the world’s most pressing challenges. The CANARY project officially launches in April 2025.
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