VENUS Seafloor Observatory: 10 Years of Operation

Ocean Network Canada’s VENUS coastal observatory in the Salish Sea, designed and delivered by OceanWorks International, will celebrate 10 years of continuous operation in early February 2016.

Supporting international marine science, Ocean Networks Canada’s VENUS coastal observatory is designed to operate for 20 years as a permanent infrastructure on the seafloor. The VENUS observatory has 40 kilometers of cable with dozens of ocean sensors that are connected to OceanWorks designed Science Instrument Interface Modules (SIIM) and OceanWorks central Nodes. The 10 year milestone is a testament to the durability and redundancy that is inherent in the OceanWorks VENUS Nodes and SIIMs.

Ocean Networks Canada operates the NEPTUNE and VENUS cabled observatories in the northeast Pacific Ocean and the Salish Sea, and a community-based observatory in Cambridge Bay, Nunavut.