Arctic Sees First Underwater Observatory
Rhonda Moniz
October 12, 2012
Scientists received the first data stream Tuesday from the sea floor observatory, a five-meter-wide frame equipped with instruments to measure temperature, pressure, oxygenation and ice thickness was installed last weekend at the hamlet of Cambridge Bay, Nunavut. The University of Victoria’s Ocean Science Network commissioned observatory. The observatory is a smaller version of units designed and operated by UVic-based Ocean Networks Canada. ONC operates NEPTUNE, a cable-connected 800-km deep ocean network of observatories off the west coast of Vancouver Island and VENUS, a 50-km network in the Strait of Georgia. The Cambridge Bay observatory is connected to an onshore monitoring station that relays data to ONC scientists in near real time via the Internet.