Democratising Deep-Sea Discovery for Developing Nations
THE QUESTION
Can low-cost, easy-to-deploy deep sea cameras enable developing countries to more readily explore the deep-sea?
LOCATION: St. Helena
SECTOR: Nature & Biodiversity
TECH: IoT
TIMELINE: September 2022 - Present
PIONEERS: Patrick Halling, Kylie Bamford, Melissa Dawson
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 idea was to 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 enable researchers to collect data on deep-sea ecosystems without needing external logistical support. The platforms are designed with the core principles of portability and operability, while also being fitted with cost-effective sensors that allow for characterisation of the deep-seal environment. These technologies are low cost and readily available. The objective was that by developing these platforms, 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.