Technology and biodiversity are not opposing forces, but partners
Brandon Miranda created an underwater microphone network with AI to recognize manatee sounds and warn vessels, addressing data gaps on endangered Caribbean manatee populations. Inspired by childhood experiences with his biologist father and community fishermen, Brandon combined biology knowledge with self-taught programming skills through local tech groups.
- 17-year-old Brandon Miranda from Barranquilla won $10,000 from National Geographic's Slingshot Challenge
- S.O.S. Manatus uses six underwater microphones and AI to detect manatee sounds and alert boat operators
- Pilot project covers 10 kilometers of the Magdalena River shipping channel
- No reliable data exists on manatee birth and death rates in Colombian waters
A 17-year-old from Barranquilla won a $10,000 National Geographic prize for S.O.S. Manatus, an AI-powered hydrophone system designed to detect manatees and alert boat operators to prevent collisions in the Magdalena River.
Brandon Miranda Alarcón is seventeen years old, lives in a working neighborhood of Barranquilla, and has just won ten thousand dollars from National Geographic for an idea that began with a single encounter in the water.
Three years ago, on an outing along the Magdalena River near the port district of Las Flores, he saw a manatee for the first time. His father, a biologist, had been taking him on these trips since childhood—teaching him the names of species, the logic of ecosystems, the stories that fishermen tell about what moves beneath the surface. That afternoon, watching the animal, something shifted. He realized he knew almost nothing about these creatures, and neither did anyone else. There were no reliable counts of manatee births or deaths in Colombian waters. When animals turned up dead on riverbanks, the reports came in scattered and isolated. The data simply did not exist.
Over the following months, Brandon listened to the people who lived on the river. Fishermen described collisions with something unseen in the dark water. They spoke of nets that sometimes caught manatees by accident, and of the illegal trade that still threatened a species already on the edge of extinction. The problem was clear, but the solution was not obvious—until Brandon began thinking about what technology could do.
He designed a system called S.O.S. Manatus. The core idea is simple: place six underwater microphones, called hydrófonos, along the ten-kilometer shipping channel that leads into Barranquilla's port. Train an artificial intelligence system to listen to the sounds manatees make and distinguish them from the noise of engines, propellers, and currents. When the system detects a manatee, send real-time alerts to boat captains and fishermen so they can slow down or change course. Brandon is clear about what this cannot do: it will not prevent every accident. But it can give people the information they need to react in time.
Brandon had learned to program through Kybernets, a self-taught learning group in Barranquilla where young people explore electronics and artificial intelligence. He had grown up listening to his father explain biology. These two worlds—the technical and the natural—had always been separate in his mind until he realized they could work together. He submitted the S.O.S. Manatus proposal to National Geographic's Slingshot Challenge, a competition for young innovators developing environmental solutions. His project was selected among hundreds of international submissions.
The ten-thousand-dollar prize will fund the first phase. Brandon has already quoted the equipment costs and finalized the design. He estimates that once the money arrives, the first hydrófonos could be operational within two months. He has technical backing from Colombia's environmental authority and is in conversation with port operators about additional support. The pilot will cover the shipping channel; the long-term vision extends to other rivers and coastal areas where manatee populations survive.
Brandon begins his studies in systems engineering this fall at the National Open and Distance University. But for now, he is still refining prototypes, training algorithms, and talking with fishermen along the Magdalena. He wants to prove something that many people assume is impossible: that technology and biodiversity protection are not opposing forces, but partners in solving real problems. The silent giants of the Caribbean, as he calls them, may soon have a voice in the water—one that speaks in the language machines understand.
Citações Notáveis
It was beautiful. Until that moment I had never seen a manatee. I was struck by being able to observe a species we really know very little about in Colombia.— Brandon Miranda, on his first encounter with a manatee three years ago
We cannot prevent all incidents, but we can increase the chances that those navigating have enough information to react in time.— Brandon Miranda, on the limitations and goals of the system
A Conversa do Hearth Outra perspectiva sobre a história
What made you think that artificial intelligence could solve a problem that biologists and conservationists have been struggling with for years?
I didn't start with that assumption. I started by listening to fishermen. They were the ones who understood the problem—the collisions, the accidental catches. I just realized that if we could hear what they hear, or what the manatees are doing, we could warn people before something bad happens.
But why hydrófonos specifically? Why not cameras or satellite tracking?
Manatees are hard to see. The water is murky, they move at night, they're shy. But they make sounds—vocalizations we can record. And the Magdalena is already so loud with boat traffic that if we can filter out that noise and isolate the manatee calls, we have something actionable.
You grew up with your father teaching you biology. Did you always know you wanted to combine that with technology?
Not at all. For a long time they felt like completely different worlds. But when I started learning to code and work with microcontrollers, I realized the tools I was learning could actually address the questions my father had been asking me about since I was small.
What happens if the system detects a manatee but a boat captain doesn't respond to the alert?
That's the honest answer—we can't control that. All we can do is give people the information. Some will slow down, some won't. But we increase the chances that someone will react in time. That's not perfect, but it's better than what exists now, which is nothing.
National Geographic chose your project from hundreds of others. What do you think made it stand out?
I think because it's not just an idea. It's grounded in real conversations with real people who live with this problem every day. And it's practical—it can actually be built and tested, not just theorized about.
What comes after the pilot phase?
If this works in Barranquilla, the same system could be adapted for other rivers, other coasts. There are manatee populations in other parts of Colombia, in Central America, in the Caribbean. But first we have to prove it works here.