Samsung harnesses Galaxy technology to protect the oceans

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. announced that it has expanded its commitment to protect the oceans by partnering with organizations that share the same vision. Continuing its efforts to address the problem of plastic waste - turning discarded fishing nets into recycled material for Galaxy devices - it is now moving forward with a major initiative to restore marine ecosystems.

Starting with the Galaxy S22 series in 2022, Samsung has incorporated recycled, discarded fishing nets - also known as ghost nets - into Galaxy devices. Since then, Samsung has continued to incorporate the use of this recycled material into all Galaxy mobile products, with the goal of mitigating the damage caused by plastics that end up in the ocean to fragile marine ecosystems.

Following on from this, Samsung is joining forces with Seatrees and the University of California, San Diego, to seek solutions for coral reef restoration. By providing Galaxy camera technology to local activists and researchers, the company is helping to restore reefs affected by climate change and pollution, making it easier to monitor the effectiveness of restoration efforts.

Together with Seatrees, Samsung is giving new purpose to Galaxy technology to promote innovative solutions that improve the health of the world's oceans. The company supports non-profit organizations and local community members working in Fiji, Indonesia and the United States with Galaxy technology to help restore coastal ecosystems. Utilizing mobile technology, these organizations aim to democratize and create a more efficient process to restore corals on reefs damaged by climate change, overfishing and ocean pollution such as discarded fishing nets.

Despite covering less than 1% of the ocean floor, coral reefs support around 25% of marine life, making them one of the most biodiverse ecosystems on Earth. Millions of people around the world also rely on reefs as a source of food, income and coastal protection. At the current rate of decline, reefs are at risk of disappearing by 2050. To support the rapid deployment of coral reef management projects globally, this initiative will provide advanced monitoring technology that leverages mobile devices as an easily accessible technology platform.

Accurate data is essential for researchers to better understand how coral restoration efforts affect reefs and, therefore, help protect a greater number of reefs around the world. However, capturing accurate and vivid photographs of coral reefs is not a simple task. As divers swim over the reefs taking thousands of photos, movement can create blurring, resulting in less accurate data collection. Similarly, water absorbs hot colours such as red and orange, also known as long-wavelength light, distorting the accuracy of the images taken and resulting in photographs that are darker and bluer than they appear to the naked eye.

Knowing that a precision underwater camera can improve coral restoration efforts globally, Samsung has partnered to overcome these challenges by promoting Galaxy technology as a targeted tool for coral restoration. Samsung developed a custom camera mode, called Ocean Mode, which was created exclusively for this partnership. Ocean Mode optimizes the existing Galaxy camera to ensure efficient and high-quality images of coral reefs are captured efficiently while underwater. By reducing motion blur and optimising white balance, Ocean Mode ensures high quality images are captured, which are essential to accurately analyse the success of coral restoration.

Throughout 2024, Samsung supported coral restoration projects in areas that have suffered coral reef declines, including Bali in Indonesia, Viti Levu Island in Fiji and Florida in the US, and more than 11,000 coral fragments have already been planted at these project sites. Committed to using technology for good, Samsung and its partners are united around a common goal: restoring marine ecosystems and preserving the world's oceans for future generations. Building on the spirit of open collaboration and leveraging Samsung's extensive scale, the organizations will continue to expand the initiative to more regions in the coming months.