Indian Ocean exploration makes historic undersea broadcast
A British-led scientific mission to document changes taking
place beneath the Indian Ocean has broadcast its first live, television-quality
video transmission from a two-person submersible.
Monsoon storms and fierce underwater currents continued to
present a challenge at greater depths as scientific work began in earnest on
Tuesday off the Seychelles.
The Associated Press has successfully broadcast the first
multi-camera live signal in full broadcast quality from manned submersibles
using optical video transmission techniques, in which the pictures transmit
through the waves using the blue region of the electromagnetic spectrum.
Previous real-time video transmissions from the world’s deep
oceans were livestreams sent from remotely operated unmanned subsea vehicles,
with the video moving via fixed fiber optic cable.
The first transmission came from 60 meters (200 feet) down.
Previous deep-sea livestreams cataloguing the world’s oceans have been via
fiber-optic cable. The new broadcast uses cutting-edge wireless technology,
sending video optically through the waves.
The Associated Press is the only news agency working with
British scientists from the Nekton research team on its deep-sea mission that
aims to unlock the secrets of the Indian Ocean, one of the world’s least
explored areas.
The multi-national team of scientists is gathering data to
help policy-makers frame protection and conservation measures.
Nekton Mission director Oliver Steeds said the experience
battling the waves underlines the need to expand scientific knowledge of the
waters off the island nation, which the team is there to do.
“The problem is, when it comes to this place, when it came
to the currents, the last current data that was gathered before we came here
was in 1882,” he said. “It’s part of the challenge. This is exploration.”
AP video coverage will include exploring the depths of up to
300 meters off the Seychelles in two-person submarines, the search for
submerged mountain ranges and previously undiscovered marine life, a
behind-the-scenes look at life on board, interviews with researchers and aerial
footage of the mission. The seven-week expedition is expected to run until
April 19.