White markers are individual vessels broadcasting AIS in real time via AISStream.io terrestrial receivers. Coverage is strongest within 200km of coastlines with receiver infrastructure. Click any marker for vessel details.
HEATMAP LAYERS vs LIVE DOTS
The FISHING, SQUID, and PRESENCE layers are heatmaps — not individual vessel positions. Each colored cell represents aggregated vessel activity over the last 90 days across a geographic grid. Brighter = more activity. These answer where do vessels operate. The live dots answer where are specific vessels right now. Together they give you pattern of life plus current picture.
PRESENCE LAYER (teal)
All vessel types globally — cargo, tanker, military, passenger, fishing — aggregated from both terrestrial and satellite AIS. Sourced from Global Fishing Watch's full AIS dataset. Shows every major shipping lane, chokepoint, and operating area on earth including the Persian Gulf, Red Sea, and Strait of Hormuz.
FISHING LAYER (orange)
Vessels algorithmically confirmed as actively fishing by GFW machine learning — not just vessel presence. Accumulated fishing hours over 90 days. Vessels with AIS disabled do not appear.
SQUID LAYER (red)
Fishing effort filtered to squid jiggers only — the dominant vessel type in Chinese distant-water operations. Concentrations off the Falkland Islands and in the East/South China Seas represent the Chinese distant-water fleet, visible from space at night due to their high-intensity squid jigging lights.
CABLES LAYER
Submarine cable routes from TeleGeography's global database. These cables carry approximately 99% of the world's international internet and communications traffic. Overlay with PRESENCE or SQUID to see fleet proximity to cable infrastructure.
THE GAP
Vessels that disable AIS — the "dark fleet" — are invisible in live dots but partially visible in heatmap layers where satellite passes detected them. The difference between what AIS reports and what radar detects is the primary indicator of gray-zone maritime operations.
SOURCES
Heatmap data: Global Fishing Watch (peer-reviewed, Science 2018). Cable data: TeleGeography. Live AIS: AISStream.io.
You are looking at where every vessel on earth operates — and what they operate near.