Integrating Marine Mussel Distribution and Carbon Sequestration with Smart Wearable Technology: A Novel Intersection for Blue Carbon Monitoring and Environmental, Social, and Governance Innovation

Abstract

Marine mussels contribute to blue carbon through biogenic calcification and filtration that enhance carbon burial in coastal sediments. Their ecological role is important yet under-quantified in many regions. Here, we present a practical framework that links mussel ecology with smart wearable sensing to enable continuous in situ observation of environmental drivers and organism responses relevant to carbon sequestration. We specify sensor modalities such as ion-sensitive field effect transistor pH, optical dissolved oxygen, temperature, salinity, turbidity, and inertial shell gape sensing. We detail device form factors for mussel-attached tags and habitat-mounted modules on buoys and autonomous platforms. Mussel-inspired adhesives and hydrogels are used as functional coatings for underwater attachment, encapsulation, and biofouling resistance. We describe renewable energy harvesting, energy storage, and power management for long deployments, together with an Internet of Things data pipeline, edge preprocessing, and cloud-based time series modeling and anomaly detection. We set measurable accuracy and resolution targets and a validation plan against standard instruments. The approach supports environmental, social, and governance reporting, aquaculture management, and citizen science. We discuss anti-biofouling strategies, ethics of bio-tagging, comparison with conventional monitoring, and future directions for robust blue carbon observatories.

Received: 19 June 2025 | Revised: 4 September 2025 | Accepted: 23 September 2025

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest to this work.

Data Availability Statement

Data sharing is not applicable to this article as no new data were created or analyzed in this study.

Author Contribution Statement

Chee Kong Yap: Conceptualization, Methodology, Data curation, Writing – original draft, Supervision, Project administration. Musefiu Adebisi Tiamiyu: Methodology, Writing – original draft. Kennedy Aaron Aguol: Methodology. Meng Chuan Ong: Software, Project administration. Wan Mohd Syazwan: Software. Noor Azrizal-Wahid: Validation, Writing – review & editing, Visualization. Faridah Qamaruz Zaman: Validation, Writing – review & editing, Visualization. Rosimah Nulit: Validation, Writing – review & editing, Visualization. Yoshifumi Horie: Formal analysis, Writing – review & editing, Visualization. Mohamad Saupi Ismail: Formal analysis, Writing – review & editing. Ahmad Dwi Setyawan: Investigation, Writing – review & editing. Krishnan Kumar: Investigation, Writing – review & editing. Wan Hee Cheng: Resources, Writing – review & editing. Chee Seng Leow: Resources, Writing – review & editing.