Twice a year, the Ocean Networks Canada engineering and science teams head out to sea to service and maintain our coastal observatory in the Salish Sea.

Just west of the dock at the Institute of Ocean Sciences, the Saanich Inlet array lies in 100 m of water. Operating since 2006, this fjord network was the first comprehensive cabled ocean observatory in the world. A remotely operated vehicle (ROV) is deployed from the deck of the Canadian Coast Guard Ship, John P. Tully and lowered to the bottom, where it can access and service the instrument suites connected to the network.

Research here includes benthic ecology, plankton dynamics, and monitoring complex seasonal biogeochemical cycles. At each station, VENUS maintains a standard...