The MarLIN website relies on data disseminated by regional, National, European and International initiatives on the distribution of marine species or habitats. As a result, the distribution maps presented on the website are automatically updated as new data becomes available.
The species distribution data is supplied by the Ocean Biodiversity Information System (OBIS), part of the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO. The data is provided under a CC-0 (Creative Commons: Public Domain) license (see https://obis.org/manual/policy/) but should be cited as follows.
OBIS, 2023. Global map of species distribution using gridded data. Available from: Ocean Biodiversity Information System. www.iobis.org. Accessed: 2023-06-06
Further detail is available via the OBIS Mapper. In addition, UK data can be interrogated via the NBN Atlas.
Technical information. The distribution maps present gridded data (on a 5 degree lat./long. grid) based on OBIS web services. The map is displayed using the Leaflet base map with GeoJSON vector tiles.
The habitat distribution data on UK biotopes is supplied by the Seabed Habitats programme of EMODnet (http://www.emodnet-seabedhabitats.eu/) in liaison with the Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC).
Technical information. The data is provided by the EMODnet Web Mapping Service (WMS) via MapServer.