CSA Ocean Sciences Expands Remote Monitoring Capabilities

Global marine environmental consulting firm CSA Ocean Sciences Inc. (CSA) has announced a significant advancement in the firm’s capacity to support offshore environmental projects through real-time subsea video monitoring.

CSA’s approach is poised to transform the way seafloor imagery is analyzed, providing technology-driven, cost-effective, and near real-time methods that complement traditional field operations.

Subsea video is crucial to identifying benthic habitats and hazards in a range of offshore projects. Using vessel-based satellite communications and video routing, CSA subject matter experts (SMEs) can monitor subsea video 24/7 from shore-based locations. Live video is transmitted from the vessel to any one of CSA’s international offices, where cross-disciplinary SMEs can analyze imagery and communicate with the offshore team in real time.

This approach allows analysis of imagery while it is being collected, and offers an additional benefit of enabling CSA to provide the offshore survey team with immediate feedback on image quality, height off the seabed, and observed features that require additional inspection.

CSA’s experts have spent hundreds of hours working offshore analyzing imagery in real-time. Major advantages of remote monitoring are that personnel do not need to be offshore, and multiple SMEs can collaborate virtually.

“This tech-led approach turns live video footage into real-world, actionable findings,” said Dr. Alexis Weinnig, CSA’s Senior Scientist and deep water coral specialist. “It’s not just about advancing remote access to deeper and more challenging marine environments—it’s about enhancing timely scientific insight while, at the same time, reducing the logistical and environmental burdens associated with conventional offshore surveys.”