From Mooring to Monitoring: Marinas as Observation Hubs with Melanie Symes
Situated at the land-sea interface area, marinas are uniquely positioned to support ocean observations. Their infrastructure, communities, and location make them ideal platforms for collecting data and fostering ocean literacy.
For Melanie Symes, Manager at TransEurope Marinas and partner in LandSeaLot, the stakes are higher than ever. In this conversation, she reflects on how the sector has evolved and the role of marinas in LandSeaLot’s mission to integrate and improve how we observe and study European land-sea interface areas.
“I’ve been working in coastal tourism for the last 30 years,” Melanie explains. “Alongside traditional provisions of berthing capacity and services, marina promotion is evolving to encompass greater societal relevance and inclusivity.”
Melanie has a strong interest in developing marinas that actively contribute to ocean science and help solve societal challenges. “Marinas, as coastal infrastructure, are built to face the elements, but they now confront evolving challenges from climate change and human behavior, leading to intensified impacts like extreme weather, biodiversity loss, and pollution,'” she notes. “Resilience is essential, and that’s something we need to develop and understand better.”
The significance of marinas to coastal communities
Marinas are coastal infrastructures located at the land-sea interface area. Melanie describes these spaces as vibrant hubs that bring together a wide range of users. “There are boaters, divers, and residents. There are also people who come and take part in boat trips: maritime excursions, whale watching, that sort of thing. They have a love of the sea, a love of being outdoors and an interest in environmental and ocean stewardship.”
TransEurope Marinas is the most extensive marina group in Europe, featuring 80 locations across 11 countries and approximately 45,000 berths (a boat’s allotted place on a pontoon or dock).
How marinas and their users can contribute to LandSeaLot
Marinas have a significant role to play in the LandSeaLot community. “They welcome visitors from around the world, including boaters who have witnessed firsthand the retreat of glaciers over their lifetimes and divers who report a noticeable decline in biodiversity at diving sites. There is also increasing concern about marine pollution, with more plastic visible at sea. Boaters often express frustration with pollution and many are eager to take part in efforts to remove ghost fishing gear and collect marine debris, bringing it back to the marina for correct disposal. This audience is particularly primed towards helping in this regard. They are engaged. They are concerned, and they want to help.”
This extensive network represents a largely untapped resource for increasing in situ observations in coastal areas.
How marinas can help close knowledge gaps
By equipping marinas with cost-effective technology and sampling tools, LandSeaLot aims to build capacity amongst marina members to test emerging technologies and ultimately collect data that will be made free and accessible to all.
For Melanie, “educational outreach is a key part of [LandSeaLot’s] vision, and we are very much looking forward to what can be achieved when marinas and citizen science initiatives come together in scaling up land-sea interface observations.”
By integrating efforts with LandSeaLot researchers and data managers, marinas can become an active part of the ocean observation network. This is a powerful opportunity for marina communities to contribute to addressing the very societal challenges they are witnessing, while strengthening observation capacity at the land–sea interface.
Why is this collaboration so important?
High-quality, locally collected data helps scientists detect changes in ocean conditions in real time, such as shifts in temperature, salinity, or biodiversity.
This information is essential for identifying trends, forecasting extreme weather events, and informing adaptive management strategies. By expanding coverage of observations through marina networks, we can close critical data gaps in the land-sea interface area, where many human and ecological pressures collide. This enhanced knowledge supports more effective decision-making, from local conservation efforts to international climate policy.
What's next?
LandSeaLot has recently launched the Citizen Science Hub, an initiative created to share and explore ideas, tools, and projects that involve a wide range of community stakeholders, including marinas, in observing the land-sea interface area. In late Summer 2025, the LandSeaLot Training Academy will also be launched.
With upcoming training activities for marinas in the UK, the development of opportunities for marinas on either side of the Seine Estuary to deploy low-cost ocean observation technology, and growing engagement through events like The Ocean Race, TransEurope Marinas and partners will continue working and observing together to address pertinent challenges.
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