Teledyne Marine has entered a partnership with Nekton Deep Ocean Exploration as an official subsea technology partner through value-in-kind contribution of equipment, technology and support. Teledyne Marine and Nekton have a shared common goal to lead the discovery and increase the understanding of the ocean.

The purpose of the expedition in the Seychelles is a major global scientific collaboration that aims to create a step-change in knowledge of the Indian Ocean and catalyze its sustainable governance. The Seychelles covers an exclusive economic zone of 1.4 million square km. The expedition will be carried out in specific areas within the plateaus of designated outer islands with depths of up to 500 m.

Teledyne Marine, with its wide array of sensors and technology, is a key partner and extensive technology provider to this important scientific discovery opportunity.  Teledyne Marine is providing a variety of technology for the expedition. The Teledyne RESON advanced T50-P SeaBat multibeam echosounder is installed on a small survey launch used for high resolution seafloor mapping and acquisition of unprecedented clean data. The Teledyne RD Instruments acoustic Doppler current profiler (ADCP) workhorse is mounted on the mother ship, Ocean Zephyr, to measure the current in the water column. The multibeam echosounder and the ADCP both serve the dual purpose of supporting safe deployment of the submersibles, as well as providing data to the scientific team onboard.

Two Teledyne software packages are in use during and after the expedition: Teledyne PDS acquisition software for data acquisition and real time data viewing and Teledyne Caris HIPS & SIPS for post processing of the hydrographic data on the mother vessel. Teledyne Bowtech HD cameras and LED lights are mounted on the manned submersibles and ROVs. These tools are vital in the study of the ocean health and will also provide live broadcasts with Nekton’s media partners. In addition, Teledyne has supplied a Teledyne SeaBotix ROV LBV300-5 Mini fitted with Teledyne BlueView high-resolution forward-looking sonar systems M900-2250. The BlueView sonar enables long range visualization beyond the range of visibility of underwater cameras. Teledyne also has a team of engineers in the Seychelles to support mobilization and to train the Nekton team in the field. —Teledyne Marine