Democratising Deep-Sea Discovery for Developing Nations
THE QUESTION
Can low-cost, easy-to-deploy deep sea cameras enable low-to-middle income countries to explore the deep-sea?
LOCATION:
St. Helena
SECTOR:
Climate & Environment
TECH:
IoT
TIMELINE:
September 2022 - Present
PIONEERS:
Patrick Halling, Kylie Bamford
PARTNERS:
Cefas
The Challenge
Our oceans account for around 70% of the Earth’s surface, but the vast majority, roughly 65%, is deeper than 200m and in the waters of many nations, this figure is often over 95%. However, very few nations have the technical and human capacity, or funds, to conduct deep-sea research. In many countries, the deep-sea can represent a significant source of value, supporting fisheries, mining, carbon storage and sink, and valuable biodiversity resources. To explore the deep-sea, researchers generally need access to large vessels and related equipment, which is expensive and requires a strong technical capacity to operate, deploy and gather scientific data. St. Helena, a small oceanic island far off the coast of Southwestern Africa, currently has a number of questions regarding the biodiversity and function of its deep-sea ecosystems, but has no way to collect the needed data without external support via a dedicated research vessel.
The Idea
This pilot will develop a series of low-cost, easy-to-deploy ‘deep-sea drift cameras’ – platforms that can record video and other scientific data to depths of at least 1000m – that can be deployed by hand from small boats. The platforms will enable researchers to collect data on deep-sea ecosystems without needing external logistical support. The platforms will be designed with the core principles of portability and operability, while also being fitted with cost-effective sensors that will allow for characterisation of the deep-seal environment. These technologies are low cost and readily available. If successful, the platforms developed by this pilot will provide crucial, noninvasive and novel research capacity for researchers in lower-middle income countries.
With the help of the Frontier Tech Hub, we’ve just built and trialled a low-cost, low-tech deep sea exploration system and tested it in Scotland before it is used in St Helena and Belize.