Seabed 2030 Project Gets AI, Robotics Boosts From New Partners to Accelerate Mapping of World’s Entire Ocean Floor (2)
Published on November 22, 2024
The third organization The Nippon Foundation-GEBCO Seabed 2030 Project joined forces with in September is Plymouth Marine Laboratory (PML), a prominent marine research institute based in Plymouth in the United Kingdom. PML is renowned for its leadership in various international initiatives, especially those related to climate change, biodiversity, cleaner seas and sustainable ocean management.
PML’s extensive multidisciplinary research projects and its collaboration with both national and international partners align with the objectives of the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development of which Seabed 2030 is a flagship program. Through these efforts, PML is dedicated to deepening our knowledge of the marine environment to support the development of well-informed, science-based solutions.
PML’s chief executive Mr. Icarus Allen said: “We’re very excited to be joining forces with Seabed 2030, recognizing that we have shared ambitions in terms of fostering even greater knowledge and understanding of the marine environment. A more sustainable future for the ocean requires the best possible data and information to support improved decision-making, and we’re delighted to be working with Seabed 2030 in support of that outcome.”
Mr. Jamie McMichael-Phillips, project director of Seabed 2030, said: "Partnering with Plymouth Marine Laboratory is a significant step forward in our mission to map the entire ocean floor. PML's commitment to excellence in marine research, particularly within the framework of the Ocean Decade, ensures that we not only expand our understanding of the ocean but also support global efforts to manage and protect it."
The news of the three new partners joining the Seabed 2030 project followed the announcement by Stockholm University, another of Seabed 2030’s partners, that the GEOEO North of Greenland 2024 Expedition, organized by the Swedish Polar Research Secretariat aboard the icebreaker Oden, has made history as the first vessel to reach the remote Victoria Fjord in North Greenland.
Setting sail from Thule, the northernmost deep-water port in the world, the expedition focused on assessing the Victoria Fjord region to understand how much and how quickly the North Greenland ice sheet could contribute to global sea-level rise.
Despite facing multi-year sea ice and pressure ridges, the vessel succeeded in reaching the fjord with 40 researchers aboard from Sweden, the United States, Denmark, Australia and Switzerland.
As the Victoria Fjord's depth is completely unknown, Oden was systematically mapping the way into the fjord using its advanced echo-sounding system while breaking through the ice. Enroute to the fjord the icebreaker encountered heavy ice in the Lincoln Sea, but through the experience and competence of the crew managed to reach this important objective.
Professors Martin Jakobsson and Nina Kirchner at Stockholm University said: “The GEOEO North of Greenland 2024 Expedition will greatly enhance our understanding of this remote and sparsely explored area, with potential implications for global climate studies, future sea-level rise and our general knowledge of the Arctic environment.”
Seabed 2030 project director Jamie McMichael-Phillips called the mapping of these uncharted waters a “remarkable achievement”, contributing significantly to the project’s broader goals of understanding the world’s oceans.
“We are hugely grateful that the GEOEO team has included bathymetry within their wider research activities. Not only will this add valuable data to the definitive map of the ocean floor, but their work will undoubtedly highlight the critical importance of exploring these remote regions to better comprehend the challenges facing the planet,” he said.
Seabed 2030 is a collaborative project between The Nippon Foundation and the General Bathymetric Chart of the Oceans (GEBCO) to inspire the complete mapping of the world's oceans by 2030, and to compile all bathymetric data into the freely available GEBCO Ocean Map.
When the initiative was launched in 2017, only 6% of the world’s ocean floor had been mapped in high resolution. On the occasion of World Hydrography Day on June 21, 2024, the Seabed 2030 project released the latest GEBCO Grid figure, showing 26.1% of the world’s entire seabed has now been mapped. This marks an increase of 4.34 million square kilometers of new data from a year earlier, equating to an area the size of the European Union.
We remain humbly aware, of course, that the latest figure leaves about 74% of the world’s seabed still to be mapped.
The goal is ambitious yet entirely achievable if we can mobilize the global community to participate. I sincerely hope that everyone with a link to the ocean will do as much as they can to help map the entire seafloor by the end of the decade.
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