FarSounder and The International SeaKeepers Society announce partnership in ocean science

The International SeaKeepers Society (SeaKeepers) and FarSounder proudly announce their strategic alliance. They are collaborating on the goal to propel ocean conservation, research, education and sustainability through the DISCOVERY Yacht Programme. This dynamic partnership seeks to leverage FarSounder’s cutting-edge technology and cloud-based services to generate survey data that will, in turn, bolster a groundbreaking Citizen Science programme for SeaKeepers.

The heart of this collaboration lies in the creation of a state-of-the-art data display platform, where collaborative crowdsourced bathymetry and other oceanographic data collected by citizen scientists will be showcased. This revolutionary platform is based on tools developed by the FarSounder team as part of its latest capabilities to anonymously share FarSounder Local History Map™ data across the fleet and contribute to Seabed 2030. It promises to serve as a cornerstone for ongoing global research, enabling stakeholders to contribute meaningfully to the preservation of our oceans.

Jay Wade, Chairman & President for SeaKeepers, articulated the significance of engaging the marine industry in ocean research, emphasising its pivotal role in shaping the future of our environment: “We look forward to building on our relationship with FarSounder through our DISCOVERY Yacht Programme. Supporting marine science research and the collection of vital scientific data is at the heart of what we do, and we eagerly anticipate advancing marine science and conservation together.”

This collaboration signifies a critical step towards the convergence of technological innovation and environmental stewardship, setting a precedent for future partnerships that prioritise the sustainable future of our oceans. As the leaders in ocean sustainability unite, the world can
anticipate unprecedented advancements in marine science, propelled by the collective commitment of SeaKeepers and FarSounder.

“In an effort to increase safety while exploring the world’s seas, we’ve made it easy for FarSounder customers to share the map of the seafloor that they create across the FarSounder fleet and to contribute anonymously to the IHO’s crowdsourced bathymetry initiatives/Seabed 2030,” Matthew Zimmerman, CEO of FarSounder shared. “It is clear that our community contribution vision aligns directly with SeaKeepers’ goals. I’m happy that FarSounder can donate the use of our technologies to help further the SeaKeepers mission. The only way we will ever fully understand our oceans is if we all participate in the discovery.”

Software tooling and infrastructure that FarSounder has developed for its own fleet sharing and community bathymetric data contributions will be used to build an easy-to-use and simple-to-understand “dashboard” of the crowdsourced bathymetry data that SeaKeepers’ programme participants generate.