AfrOBIS

OBIS is a global open-access data and information clearing-house on marine biodiversity for science, conservation and sustainable development. More than 30 OBIS nodes around the world connect 500 institutions from 56 countries. Collectively, they have provided over 45 million observations of nearly 120 000 marine species, from Bacteria to Whales, from the surface to 10 900 meters depth, and from the Tropics to the Poles. OBIS emanates from the Census of Marine Life (2000-2010) and was adopted as a project under IOC-UNESCO’s International Oceanographic Data and Information Exchange (IODE) programme in 2009. AfrObis is the Africa arm of OBIS, based in South Africa.