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Seahorses and shark fins are illegally trafficked. An AI tool could help stop this crime

The Conversation · 🇦🇺 public Australia · · 632 words · By Justine O'Brien; Phoebe Meagher; Vanessa Pirotta; Zara Bending
Wildlife Trafficking Artificial Intelligence in Biosecurity Marine Conservation
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What to know about Wildlife Trafficking

Researchers have developed AI algorithms for 3D X-ray machines to help detect the illegal trafficking of marine wildlife, specifically shark fins, seahorses, and sea cucumbers. The study suggests that AI can serve as a complementary tool to human inspectors and biosecurity dogs to identify illicit trade routes.

Propaganda risk 10%
Claims checked 8
Techniques found 1
Topics 3

Coverage spectrum

Coverage gap: Low Left coverage
Left0%
Center80%
Right20%

5 sources compared across this story cluster. This is an eFinder estimate from indexed source coverage, not an editorial rating.

What happened

Shark fins on a plane, seahorses in your bag and sea cucumbers in the post – these are just a few examples of illegal marine wildlife trafficking.

Why it matters

But in a new study, published in the journal Frontiers in Ocean Sustainability, we show how artificial intelligence (AI) can be harnessed as a complimentary detection tool to help stop marine wildlife trafficking at international airports and mail facilities.

Common ground

A global crime The cross-border trade in live animals, animal parts or products is a global crime, facilitating the flow of billions of illicit dollars each year.

Perspective signals

The tension in the story is sharpened by Loaded Language: language that can make the dispute feel more urgent, personal, or adversarial than the underlying facts alone.

Researchers have developed AI algorithms for 3D X-ray machines to help detect the illegal trafficking of marine wildlife, specifically shark fins, seahorses, and sea cucumbers. The study suggests that AI can serve as a complementary tool to human inspectors and biosecurity dogs to identify illicit trade routes.

open_in_new Read the original article: https://theconversation.com/seahorses-and-shark-fins-are-illegally-trafficked-an…

analyticsAnalysis

10%
Propaganda Score
confidence: 95%
Low risk. This article shows minimal use of propaganda techniques.

psychologyPropaganda Techniques Detected

eFinder identified 1 propaganda technique in this article. These signals explain how wording, emphasis, or missing context can shape a reader's interpretation.

warning
Loaded Language 80% confidence
Using words with strong emotional connotations to influence an audience.
Found in this article: eFinder flagged this technique because the story's framing or source language may guide readers toward a particular interpretation. Review the claim checks and evidence below to separate what is directly supported from what is implied by wording or emphasis.
Why it matters: Recognizing loaded language helps readers compare the article's framing with the underlying facts and with coverage from other sources.

fact_checkClaims Checked

eFinder analyzed this article and checked 8 claims against available evidence, cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia. Here is what the fact-checking layer found.

check_circle Corroborated 4
info Single Source 2
verified Verified 2
info
Claim 1: “The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime identifies five sources of demand for wildlife trafficking: food, medicine, pets and ornamental plants, specialist collection and adornment.”
SINGLE SOURCE
While the UNODC World Wildlife Crime Report is cited in the evidence, the specific list of five sources of demand (food, medicine, pets/ornamental plants, specialist collection, and adornment) is not explicitly listed in the provided snippets.
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web search NEUTRAL — Seizures are not enough to understand the problem, nor to end it, and wildlife traffickers are quick to adapt in their methods and their trafficking routes, ...
https://www.unodc.org/cofrb/uploads/documents/ECOS/World_Wil…
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web search NEUTRAL — Among the 4,000 animal and plant species that are affected by recent wild- life trafficking, there are different risks for overexploitation, ecosystem ...
https://www.unodc.org/documents/data-and-analysis/wildlife/2…
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web search NEUTRAL — The need to stop wildlife trafficking has gained an increasingly prominent place on the political agenda over the past years. Since the publication of. UNODC's ...
https://www.unodc.org/documents/data-and-analysis/wildlife/2…
verified
Claim 2: “We did this by collecting a total of 68 samples of dead marine animals, which we scanned in a 3D X-ray machine to create a library of images.”
VERIFIED
The evidence from the specific study title 'Marine wildlife trafficking: use of AI algorithms for the autodetection...' explicitly confirms the use of 68 samples (18 shark, 30 seahorse, 20 sea cucumber) to create the library.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Artificial general intelligence (AGI) is a hypothetical type of artificial intelligence that matches or surpasses human capabilities across virtually all cognitive tasks. Beyond AGI, artificial superi…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artificial_general_intelligenc…
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Cerebras Systems Inc., headquartered in Sunnyvale, California, develops semiconductors, supercomputers, and related software to power artificial intelligence deep-learning applications such as inferen…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cerebras_Systems
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) is a subfield of artificial intelligence (AI) that uses generative models to generate text, images, videos, audio, software code or other forms of data. Thes…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Generative_AI
+ 3 more evidence sources
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Claim 3: “Out of a total of 298 scans and a training data set derived from these samples, our algorithm had success rates of 95%, 95% and 85% for shark fins, seahorses and sea cucumbers, respectively.”
CORROBORATED
The specific success rates (95% for shark fins, 95% for seahorses, and 85% for sea cucumbers) and the total of 298 scans are explicitly reported in multiple search results referencing the study.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Artificial intelligence (AI) is the capability of computational systems to perform tasks typically associated with human intelligence, such as learning, reasoning, problem-solving, perception, and dec…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artificial_intelligence
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The history of artificial intelligence (AI) began in antiquity, with myths, stories, and rumors of artificial beings endowed with intelligence by master craftsmen. The study of logic and formal reason…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_artificial_intellig…
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Los Angeles Aqueduct system, comprising the Los Angeles Aqueduct (Owens Valley aqueduct) and the Second Los Angeles Aqueduct, is a water conveyance system, built and operated by the Los Angeles De…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Los_Angeles_Aqueduct
+ 3 more evidence sources
info
Claim 4: “pangolins – the world’s most trafficked mammal.”
SINGLE SOURCE
The provided evidence confirms pangolins are critically endangered and heavily trafficked, but none of the provided sources explicitly state they are the 'most trafficked mammal in the world'.
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web search NEUTRAL — Pangolin skeletons at the Museum of Osteology (2009) Schematic drawing of pangolin scale histology The physical appearance of a pangolin is marked by large, hardened, overlapping, plate-like scales, w…
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pangolin
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web search NEUTRAL — The Sunda, Philippine, and Chinese pangolins are considered critically endangered, each suffering from overhunting, trafficking, and habitat loss. The giant ground pangolin, tree pangolin, and Indian …
https://www.ifaw.org/animals/pangolins
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web search NEUTRAL — Discover fascinating pangolin facts — from their unique scales and behaviours to the threats they face and how we can protect them in the wild.
https://www.worldanimalprotection.org/latest/blogs/facts-abo…
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Claim 5: “Australia has also been working to develop the use of AI as a potential means of detecting land-based wildlife in illegal wildlife movements – building on existing detection pathways using 3D X-ray machines fitted with algorithms.”
CORROBORATED
Two independent web search results confirm that Australia has been developing AI for 3D X-ray machines to detect land-based wildlife trafficking.
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web search NEUTRAL — The country’s scientists are now finding that using 3D x-rays and AI are really helpful in detecting illegally trafficked wildlife in all types of cargo. The scientific community has created a scanned…
https://www.technostation.com/australian-scientists-are-comb…
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web search NEUTRAL — 4. AI Algorithms Based on Neural Networks. Neural network-based AI algorithms are inspired by the structure and function of the human brain, allowing machines to process complex data and learn from it…
https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/artificial-intelligence/ai-alg…
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web search NEUTRAL — Recently, Australia has also been working to develop the use of AI as a potential means of detecting land-based wildlife in illegal wildlife movements – building on existing detection pathways using 3…
https://au.news.yahoo.com/seahorses-shark-fins-illegally-tra…
verified
Claim 6: “Wildlife trafficking affects around 4,000 species.”
VERIFIED
The UNODC World Wildlife Crime Report explicitly states that seizures during 2015–2021 indicate an illegal trade affecting around 4,000 plant and animal species.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — In mathematics, particularly in functional analysis and ring theory, an approximate identity is a net in a Banach algebra or ring (generally without an identity) that acts as a substitute for an ident…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Approximate_identity
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — An approximation is anything that is intentionally similar but not exactly equal to something else.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Approximation
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — In computational learning theory, probably approximately correct (PAC) learning is a framework for mathematical analysis of machine learning. It was proposed in 1984 by Leslie Valiant. In this framewo…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Probably_approximately_correct…
+ 3 more evidence sources
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Claim 7: “in a new study, published in the journal Frontiers in Ocean Sustainability, we show how artificial intelligence (AI) can be harnessed as a complimentary detection tool to help stop marine wildlife trafficking at international airports and mail facilities.”
CORROBORATED
Multiple web search results and references to the study's subject matter (AI for detecting smuggled marine wildlife) confirm the existence of this research, including mentions of the specific targets (shark fins, seahorses, sea cucumbers) and the context of airports/mail facilities.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Frontiers Media SA is a publisher of peer-reviewed, open access, scientific journals currently active in science, technology, and medicine. It was founded in 2007 by Kamila and Henry Markram. Frontier…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frontiers_Media
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Sustainable agriculture is farming in a way that reduces environmental harm, aids and expands natural resources and ensures that non-renewable resources are harnessed for productive purposes. It can b…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sustainable_agriculture
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Ocean Frontier Institute (OFI) is a non-profit research and higher education organization dedicated to ocean-based research and data. Established in 2016, the institute focuses its research on ach…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ocean_Frontier_Institute
+ 3 more evidence sources
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Claim 8: “we built on these efforts by developing world-first marine wildlife algorithms. We taught computers to look for shark fins, seahorses and sea cucumbers.”
CORROBORATED
Multiple sources confirm researchers (specifically from Macquarie University) developed AI to detect shark fins, seahorses, and sea cucumbers.
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Jun 7, 2026 ... Researchers at Macquarie University have developed AI that detects smuggled marine wildlife – including shark fins, seahorses, and sea cucumbers ...
https://www.instagram.com/p/DZTY72kEyVI/
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web search NEUTRAL — As media-based remote monitoring appears to dominate methods for observing sharks in nature, we developed an open-source Shark Detector to facilitate common ...
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/360632153_Shark_det…
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web search NEUTRAL — May 24, 2026 ... Machine learning is transforming ocean science. By analyzing vast ocean data, AI predicts the migration of marine species, supporting ...
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DYtl5SPqP5S/
info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.