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How technology is changing humans’ relationship with the oceans

It could even be of benefit to both parties

From The Economist

In 1971 Jacques Cousteau, a French oceanographer, called for a shift in how humans see the oceans.
“We must plant the sea and herd its animals…using the sea as farmers instead of hunters,” he said.
“That is what civilisation is all about.”
Cousteau's call fell largely on deaf ears at the time.

The environmental movement was only just beginning and humans were still dealing with the sea as they always had: as hunters, who took from it what they wanted and dumped into it what they did not want.
In the past decade, however, two important developments have changed that.

First, with growing environmental awareness it has become clear that the hunter-gatherer relationship cannot continue.
And second, technology is making it possible to interact with the sea in a different way.
Underwater drones are now able to get to previously unexplorable places, such as underneath glaciers in Antarctica, to assess the impact of global warming.
New forms of unmanned, robotic boats have been developed to sail the seas gathering data on ocean temperature, pollutants, carbon-dioxide and oxygen concentrations.
It will be possible to transfer all of this data instantly back to shore from anywhere on the ocean using newly built internet infrastructure, and there are already markets for such data among weather forecasters, fisheries managers, and oil and gas companies.
New open-ocean fish farms with automatic feeders (pictured) enable more fish to be farmed in deeper waters—a way to ease the crisis of overfishing.
There are even military implications, with improved undersea surveillance making it harder for submarines to hide, thus denting their second-strike capabilities.

Transas chief executive Frank Coles’ summarises current digital and IT challenges
and urges regulators to remove barriers to technology change

Wärtsilä acquires Transas to accelerate its Smart Marine Ecosystem vision
Connecting smart ships with smart ports to deliver fundamental benefits to the marine sector.

At the root of the change is the ability to produce smaller, cheaper electronic components that use less power.
The smartphone boom has kickstarted progress in drones, robotics and small satellites that are already being as transformative in the sea as in the skies and in space.
All of this reduces the number of people involved and does away with the expense of keeping people alive on or under the sea.
So it vastly expands the volume of the ocean that can be monitored and measured, whether for fishery management or weather forecasting.
Lithium-ion batteries allow underwater drones to travel for up to 60 hours on one charge, giving them a range of about 400km.
Harvesters with pressure-resistant electronic innards will soon be used to gather ore from seabeds that were previously inaccessible.
This in turn could reduce the amount of destructive mining that takes place on land. 

There are dangers, however.
Humans have not shown much restraint in the past with new technologies that enable faster or easier extraction of resources.
So it will be crucial to regulate people’s ability to use the new technology, as well as regulating to reduce the risks already being taken.
The International Seabed Authority, for instance, is overseeing the new system to authorize mining the deep ocean floor, and is expected to approve by 2019 the first attempt to do so off the west coast of Mexico.
If such systems can be put in place, the potential for transforming human interaction with the oceans is very real, to the benefit of human beings and the oceans themselves.

Links :

• MarineLink : Data is the New Oil and Satellites Are the Pipeline 
• Marinemec : Disruption has begun, we just need to remove the final roadblocks

Disappearing ice

Data may encapsulate the events of a single second or many years; it may span a small patch of Earth or entire systems of suns and planets.
Visualizing data within its natural environment maximizes the potential for learning and discovery. Scientific visualization can clarify data’s relationships in time and space.
In this visualization, the issue of the declining sea ice near the North Pole is set in its natural configuration.
The visualization begins by showing the dynamic beauty of the Arctic sea ice as it responds to winds and ocean currents.
Research into the behavior of the Arctic sea ice for the last 30 years has led to a deeper understanding of how this ice survives from year to year.
In the animation that follows, age of the sea ice is visible, showing the younger ice in darker shades of blue and the oldest ice in brighter white.
An analysis of the age of the Arctic sea ice indicates that it traditionally became older while circulating in the Beaufort Sea north of Alaska and was then primarily lost in the warmer regions along the eastern coast of Greenland.
In recent years, however, warmer water in the Beaufort Sea, possibly from the Bering Strait, often melts away the sea ice in the summer before it can get older.
This visual representation of the ice age clearly shows how the quantity of older and thicker ice has changed between 1984 and 2016.

Ant Steward : Sailing around the world alone in a tiny open boat

Ant Steward circumnavigated the world in 1992 on the tiny open boat called "Zulu Dawn"

but named "NCS Challenger" for the voyage.

In 1992 Anthony (Ant) Steward left Cape Town, SA amid warm farewells from hundreds of people. His goal: to be the first person to circumnavigate in an open boat.

The craft he selected was a Dudley Dix designed TLC 19 open cockpit day sailor.

Ant beefed it up with DIY structural upgrades, foam flotation, and rig and rudder modifications.

He had nowhere to build his boat and talked a friend into letting him do it inside his apartment.

Getting it into and out of the apartment must have been an interesting exercise.

Resin smells and woodwork noises in the early hours eventually led to an enforced removal to Royal Cape Yacht Club, where she spent the last couple of months before launching.

Many expected to never see him again and talked of his foolishness.

He said that if we thought that he was mad we should get to know his mother, then we would know where he got it from.

He had decided that he was sane and the rest of us were crazy for staying behind.

It would have been a crowded boat if we had not.
Tony Stewart lost his charts five days into the journey.
He figured that Columbus and others never had charts so he used a world map and a compass to complete the trip. 

For part of the voyage, Ant had a small video camera aboard.

This is his story... 

March 16th, 1978 : Amaco Cadiz oil spill, the day the sea turned black

 40 years ago, the oil tanker Amoco Cadiz ran aground on Portsall Rocks, 5 km (3.1 mi) from the coast of Brittany, France, on 16 March 1978, and ultimately split in three and sank, all together resulting in the largest oil spill of its kind in history to that date.

photo : Ouest France

From JerseyEvening

FOUR decades after a devastating oil spill off the Brittany coast threatened to pollute Jersey’s beaches, a special fund established in its wake is looking for more projects to support.

The Jersey Ecology Trust was set up in 1991 with £344,592, Jersey’s share of $155 million damages imposed by an American court on the Amoco Corporation, owners of the Amoco Cadiz oil tanker.

 Position of the 'Amoco Cadiz' shipwreck with the GeoGarage (SHOM)

48°35.56538' N / 4°43.05597 W

The vessel ran aground off the coast of Brittany on 16 March 1978 in extreme storm conditions.
Over the following two weeks, the 223,000 tonnes of oil and 4,000 tonnes of ship’s fuel spewed into the sea in what was the largest oil spill of its kind in history at that time, posing a serious threat to the Channel Islands.

 courtesy of brepaves.free.fr

Thankfully, favourable tidal and wind conditions and rough seas – and the efforts of the Royal Navy, UK and local fishermen to disperse the 40-mile long slick – kept it at bay.

Deputy Scott Wickenden, chairman of the Ecology Fund, said: ‘The Amoco Cadiz spill had a devastating impact on wildlife and marine habitats across the Channel.
However, through the insight and hard work of Islanders who helped establish the Ecology Fund, some good has come out of it.
‘The projects it has helped fund over the years have addressed some of the ongoing environmental issues Jersey faces, such as declining habitat, and impact of development and commercial exploitation, and inspired and educated a new generation.’

 photo Portsall : Ouest France

More than £150,000 has been paid out since 1991 to almost 150 local projects.
These have included a nature garden at Mont à l’Abbé School, Birds on the Edge project to revive declining farmland bird numbers, a study of the local red squirrel population and woodland management training for Jersey Trees for Life.
Mont à l’Abbé School head teacher Liz Searle said: ‘We are grateful to the Ecology Fund for giving us a donation of £1,300 last year to enable us to carry out maintenance in the forest school area, so the children could continue to use this wonderful learning space.’

The threat to the islands from the Amoco Cadiz disaster was over by the end of March 1978.
The islands escaped relatively unscathed but dead birds and tar continued to be washed up on Jersey’s and Guernsey’s beaches for many months.

However, it took many years for the Brittany coast to recover.
By the end of April 1978, the slick had contaminated almost 200 miles of coastline, clogging holiday beaches with a thick black layer of crude oil, contaminating shellfish stocks and killing at least 20,000 sea birds and millions of molluscs, sea urchins and clams.
The clean-up operation involved 6,000 French soldiers and thousands of volunteers.
Some beaches had to be cleaned six times and traces of the pollution can be seen to this day.

Links :

• BBC : Torrey Canyon oil spill (March 18th, 1967)
• National Geographic : Amoco Cadiz, la marée noire du siècle
• Robin des Bois : Amoco Cadiz' family secrets
• Cedre : Amoco Cadiz, 40 years of evolution
• amococadiz40ans.fr