Exploring Climate Change Effects on Clams: Behavioural Indicators and Priming-Based Mitigation

This bachelor’s thesis investigates how climate change, particularly marine heatwaves, affects the welfare and survival of clams, and explores priming as a strategy to increase their resilience. Through controlled experiments, clams were exposed to thermal and chemical pre-treatments and later subjected to simulated heatwave conditions, while their health was assessed using a non-invasive behavioural indicator based on burrowing activity. The study also compares manual and AI-based methods for behavioural analysis, highlighting both the potential and current limitations of automation in aquaculture research.