Bloomberg Businessweek | Sooner Than You Think June10, 2019
ByJeffWise
Photography by Ivar Kvaalsonarthatcancoverfivetimestheareaofmodelsfrom
a decadeago,with 10 times the detail.
Thesubscanalsotransfer,process,andsharemuch
largeramountsofdatawithdistantcontrolcenters
thanwaspossiblebefore.Fiveyearsago,FugroNV,
theDutchsurveyandgeosciencescompanyrespon-
sibleforsearchingtheIndianOceanforthedowned
MalaysiaAirlinesFlightMH370, relied on crewed sur-
vey boats that towed sonar gear on long cables up and
down the seafloor as shipboard analysts monitored
incoming data. Today the company streams field data
tocommandcentersonshoreandplanstodoawaywith
somecrewsentirely.
Since 2017, Seabed2030 has single-handedly
increased the percentage of the seabed that’s been
surveyed from 6% to 15%, mostly by compiling data
from the likes of Fugro and Ocean Infinity. Fugro keeps
mapping even when it’s moving ships between jobs.
Beyond potential benefits such as finding clearer
routes for undersea internet cables or energy pipe-
lines,theextraintelwillhelpanswerbigscientific
questionsrelatedtoclimatechange,saysLarryMayer,
whocontributestoSeabed2030 as director of the
Center for Coastal & Ocean Mapping at the University
of New Hampshire. “How heat is distributed has to do
with currents, and where those currents go is deter-
mined by where there are ridges and valleys and
things,” he says. “It’s the most fundamental informa-
tion that we can get.”
Just as the first sequencing of the human genome
ledtobusinessessequencingmanyotherpeople’s
genomes,seabedmappingcouldonedaybecome
routine,orevenjustanongoingprocess,helpingto
trackthingssuchaspollution,oceanwarming,andfish
stocks.“Itwillenabletheworld’sdecision-makersto
sustainablymanagetheoceans,”Jalvingsays.
For now, though, the oceans are keeping a great
manysecrets.AfterFugrofailedtofindMH370,Ocean
Infinitygavethesearch a shotlastyear,scanning
43,000milesinfivemonths—about 15 times the pace
in 2014. That team, like Fugro’s, found nothing. <BW>THE
SEAS
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