Crab Alert: Hackathon team builds award-winning early warning system for invasive species
Stanley Parker, a third-year Creative Computing student at the School of Electronic Engineering and Computer Science, recently took part in Open Sea Lab 4.0, a prestigious international hackathon focused on ocean innovation.
Co-organised by EMODnet, the European Digital Twin Ocean (EDITO) initiative, and the European Commission, with support from Copernicus Marine Services, the event brought together global experts and innovators to tackle urgent marine challenges.
Stanley’s team developed a prototype application and video pitch for an intelligent system to track and predict the spread of invasive blue crabs, a serious ecological and economic threat across Europe’s coasts - especially in the Mediterranean. Their solution, designed to integrate with the European Digital Twin Ocean platform, would help policymakers and scientists detect early signs of invasion and plan responses before ecosystems suffer irreversible damage.
Their four-person team included Martina Gaglioti, a marine biologist and educator (and leader of the team), Merel De Cock, a Junior Science Support Officer at Seascape Belgium, Ioannis Rallis, PhD marine biologist working with non-indigenous species and a marine data manager for medObis, and Mary Kane. Despite being one of the smallest teams among nearly 20, they were awarded one of just five prizes for best ideas, recognising the innovation, scientific value, and real-world potential of their concept.
Using tools like Figma to simulate the user interface, Python for interaction modeling, and R for habitat analysis, they created a compelling and functional proof of concept. Hosted directly on the EDITO platform, the project also tested integration with Copernicus datasets, laying groundwork for future development and scaling.
What sets this project apart is its predictive approach, moving beyond current solutions that rely on sightings and reports. Instead, it provides a forward-looking system that could alert stakeholders early and help prevent the spread of invasive species, offering a powerful new tool in the fight against biodiversity loss.
Stanley and his teammates are considering continuing development once academic schedules allow.
The next Open Sea Lab will be announced in autumn via EMODnet’s LinkedIn and the official website, offering new participants a chance to contribute to ocean innovation at the frontier of science and technology.