UNH Researchers Go Polar

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At the end of August, researchers from the University of New Hampshire were in the midst of a six week tour of the Arctic Ocean. One of them, Kevin Jerram, has been on several mapping expeditions before. His main research focus is the detection and characterization of marine gas seeps. The other researcher happened to be a 2015-2016 scholar at the Center for Coastal and Ocean Mapping Joint Hydrographic Center. Her name is Evgenia Bazhenova, and she studies marine sediment cores in the central part of the Arctic Ocean.


Myself, Jerram, Bazhenova, and nearly 70 other personnel took six weeks to travel through the Arctic Ocean on the Swedish icebreaker Oden, and they made a special stop in the North Pole.  Below are some of the beautiful pictures from this stop, taken by Jerram himself:

Techie Maps for Ocean Exploration

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OceanThink about how many times you have used Google Maps to get around, just in the past year. Google Maps has become one of the most popular ways to find one’s way, as it is available as an app that helps people find their way in real time. Now, think about how a Google Maps approach could be used for Ocean Exploration. In order for safe ocean exploration to become standard, more than 5% of the ocean must be mapped. Therefore, scientists have turned to state-of-the-art technology to map sources of natural danger.

How are the scientists planning to accomplish this feat? They are planning to use advanced sonar on their roaming ships and other unmanned vessels. This sonar will allow the vehicles to pick up any natural ‘abnormality,’ such as foreign creatures, volcanoes, and strange changes in the sea floor. This advanced sonar is known as a multi-beam sonar, which can survey hundreds of meters of the sea floor at a time.

The deadline that scientists have given themselves to map out the entirety of the sea is the year 2030. As a Google Maps approach is being used, Google is offering help to the General Bathymetric Chart of the Oceans, which is overseeing the mapping efforts. This project should take precedence above all else.

If we look to history, we can find several instances of disasters and collisions occurring at sea because we do not have adequate knowledge of the layout of the sea floor. There have been underwater mountains struck that have resulted in deaths, for example, and much more. In order for ocean exploration to continue as a lucrative profession, scientists need knowledge about all of the terrain.

As we all know, a great deal of time and money all over the world is spent exploring space, while most of our planet remains unexplored and, therefore, not understood. I am of the firm belief that ocean exploration should be put above all else, including above space travel. When we finally choose to fully focus on exploring and mapping the seafloor, we will generate a further understanding of the planet Earth and what lies in its deepest crevices. This will make travel safer, and will be a huge leap forward for science.

Robots Explore Oceans

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OceanOver the course of the past decade, technology has become a key tool to help with ocean exploration. We have gone from days of divers being the only resource made available to ocean scientists, to being able to send tools, such as observation sensors and communication methods, underwater. With them, accurate readings can be taken of phenomenon that exist deep below the ocean’s surface. This technology is only expanding. In the past month, robot ocean exploration has taken a new form for one exploration team – literally. In order to explore a shipwreck that has not been touched since 1664, experts sent a robot resembling a mermaid to the scene.

This unique ocean explorer is called ‘OceanOne.’ It has, in robot form, the torso and head of a human, complete with a robotic ‘face’ and arms. The bottom of this device holds the bulk of its power and intelligence, which rests inside its mermaid ‘tail.’ This robot can be guided from a boat above and can complete tasks in the water that before could only be fathomable by a human.

For example, from shipwrecks that are inaccessible to, or too dangerous for, divers, this robot is able to retrieve artifacts. It is the perfect combination of artificial intelligence, clever mechanics, and sensory feedback to make it gentle with delicate artifacts. It is able to move the artifacts into a box and subsequently carry said box to the surface of the ocean.

The ‘OceanOne’ is a truly revolutionary addition to ocean exploration technology. Humans have, for years, been using artificial intelligence technology to explore the unknown waters of the world. However, none have had all of the capabilities of this new, bright orange ‘mermaid.’ The ‘OceanOne’ is the first diving robot to have many of the capabilities of a human diver, complete with flexibility and dexterity formerly unknown to robots.

Additionally, the engineers who designed ‘OceanOne’ have made it so the person controlling the robot can also feel what it feels. They installed force sensors in the robot’s hand that makes up an interface with which a human can feel what the ‘OceanOne’ is feeling at any given time during its exploration.

The ‘OceanOne’ is truly the smart robot that ocean explorers need in order to be able to move forward with their work. It can adjust to its environment automatically, changing direction or adjusting the pressure of its grip with no prompting from its controller. Having more of these available in the ocean exploration field would give explorers the ability to discover formerly unknown marts of the ocean without putting themselves or any of their team in danger. I am truly excited to see how this diving robot affects the ocean exploration industry!

Shell To Begin Drilling In Arctic

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After getting approval from President Obama and the United States, Shell has begun drilling in the Arctic which could cause a catastrophic ecological disaster. Scientists and environmentalists are scared of what can potentially happen due to the drilling, they explained, “Shell’s plan is risky and ill-conceived exploration, that could lead to a disaster in the Arctic. Instead of holding Shell accountable and moving the country towards a sustainable future, our federal regulators are catering to an ill-prepared company in a region that doesn’t tolerate cutting corners.” This was said by Tim Donaghy, a specialist and senior researcher at Greenpeace. 

Greenpeace and other Arctic organizations are concerned and upset with President Obama for allowing Shell to drill in these locations. The ecological risk has always been high and the group says Obama is looking the other way while they are drilling rather then working with the Greenpeace to resolve the issue.

According to The Guardian, “The environmentalists warn that drilling in the icy Arctic waters is likely to be much more dangerous than other more temperate seas, and could lead to disasters on an even greater scale than the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill that killed 11 people and spilled nearly 5m barrels of crude oil into the ocean. The nearest coast guard station with equipment for responding to a spill is more than 1,000 miles away.”

For more information on the arctic and the current situation, please visit Larry Mayer‘s official website.

Arctic Ice Thinning

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Over the past few decades, the idea the fact that the Arctic ice had been thinning is to no ones surprise. Many blame the concern of Global Warming and other outstanding factors to play a major part in the fairly recent hot climate in the arctic. One thing that everyone can agree on is the amount of snow melting and ice thinning in the arctic year after year. The percent of ice and snow that has thinned over the course of forty to fifty years is staggering after research done by the University of Washington.

Ron Lindsay, a researcher at the University explained, “We knew the ice was thinning, but we now have additional confirmation on how fast, and we can see that it’s not slowing down.” Even though everyone expected the ice to continue the melt, the speed in which it is melting is alarming to many researchers and scientists looking to preserve the Arctic. From 1975 to 2012, roughly 65% of the ice in some regions of the Arctic has thinned. Essentially more then half of the ice which was once there in 1975 is now either gone or on the verge on melting away for good. The numbers get more alarming from there, in that same 37 year span from 1975-2014 the total percentage of thinned ice in the region is down 85%. 

The reason the numbers are so alarming is because of the abundance of land which was once there and inhabited by various forms of life such as polar bears, and sea lions are now facing extinction since their habitat is literally melting underneath their very feet. Many are concerned within the next two years, we could see a complete new landscape where the Arctic currently sits. This change could vastly change the outlook of sea level risings and other concerns which were once thought not a concern.

For more news updates about the Arctic, check out Larry Mayer‘s Official Website.