Research, Technology and Innovation

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Victoria Experimental Network Under the Sea (VENUS) at UVic

Although we live on the coast, British Columbians aren’t too familiar with what happens on our ocean floors. That’s been changing thanks to University of Victoria’s Victoria Experimental Network Under the Sea (VENUS) project. VENUS uses internet and telecommunications technology to provide access to video, still images, sound and data plots of the lively activity and diverse ecosystems of B.C.’s coastal sea floor.

University of Victoria professor and project director Verena Tunnicliffe leads a team of over 50 scientists nationwide on this venture under the sea. Most exciting about this project is its ability to deliver data from the ocean to researchers in real-time.

Many research questions are being answered using VENUS. Researchers can measure long-term deep water temperature changes; monitor for whales with acoustic imagery, and help forensics experts study decay in salt water. The potential of this project promises excellent results for B.C. and the wider ocean research community.

VENUS together with the NEPTUNE project at UVic places the university as a world leader in ocean sciences research.

For more information, visit http://www.venus.uvic.ca/.

Photos courtesy of VENUS

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