ShowBoats International has been involved with and instrumental in supporting the SeaKeepers Society since its inception in 1998. Our annual ShowBoats International Awards and Monaco Rendezvous are coupled with the Bal de la Mer SeaKeepers Society fundraiser. John Englander, the society’s CEO, explains SeaKeepers, its mission and its equipment.

This organization is both simple and revolutionary. From a shared love of the sea, a group of yacht owners and entrepreneurs determined that it would be invaluable to have a monitoring device that could gather quality data from the world’s oceans.

Just as economists use models to predict global economic change, scientists are modeling the oceans and atmosphere to better understand and predict the scope and consequences of environmental change. Research and technology offer the possibility of a more precise understanding, yet there is a lack of sufficient data to drive the models. With its powerful, flexible and cost-effective technology, SeaKeepers has already made substantial contributions to the challenges posed by ongoing oceanographical and climatological change.

These diverse installations prove the utility and flexibility of this system. It is suitable for a private yacht, a scientific facility or a pier-based coastal monitoring network. The heart of the SK1000 is a cabinet with slots for various suites of sensors. Seawater is continuously pumped through the sensors, with samples typically taken every minute. The scientifically precise data is recorded on computer memory, and every three hours a snapshot of the detailed data is sent via satellite to the SeaKeepers data server.

One of the system’s most important attributes is that depending on the monitoring needs in a particular environment, new sensors can be added as technology becomes available. More than half a dozen sensor manufacturers in various countries are designing and adapting ocean measurement devices to fit the SK1000’s architecture. Standardization and modularity offer huge benefits in terms of data diversity and cost efficiency compared to previous scientific instrumentation. (Click image to enlarge)The initial deployments measured oceanography, salinity, dissolved oxygen, reduction-oxidation potential, pH, surface temperature, sample temperature, depth, meteorology, wind speed, wind direction, air temperature, relative humidity and barometric pressure.

The system’s weather measurements are checked for integrity and then put into the U.S. and global weather-reporting networks. Given that our locations are often the only weather reporting stations in their vicinities, the weather data is quite valuable in forecasting. It has already provided significant information on specific hurricanes and other weather phenomena. The ocean database is now online and available to the scientific community. (Click image to enlarge)

The cost of each SK1000—approximately $40,000—is substantial. However, given that it performs seawater and weather analysis every minute of every day completely unattended, the cost per data record becomes extremely inexpensive. The systems require only minor maintenance and calibration a few times a year, and SK1000 systems have been working continuously for three years without failure.

Additional sensors under development include those for measuring ocean color (CDOM); water clarity (turbidity); phytoplankton (chlorophyll); blue-green algae; select metals (Cu, Cd, Fe, Mn, Pb, Zn); arsenic and mercury; harmful algal blooms (HABs)—red tides, plus others; carbon dioxide; nutrients; and radiation.

The SK1000 has been endorsed and is in use by organizations such as the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the World Meteorological Organization, the National Data Buoy Center and the United Nations System’s Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission. The society is looking at working closely with various oceanographic institutions, governments and entities such as the Global Ocean Observing System and the various Coastal Ocean Observing Systems to expand the deployment of its system and to ensure that the information gathered is put to effective use.

Collectively, the society’s members have contributed more than $7 million to fund this innovative ocean-monitoring technology. The goal is to ensure a healthy ocean for future generations. With the success of the SeaKeeper 1000 firmly established, the International SeaKeepers Society is now addressing the broader platform of the world’s ocean agenda.

SeaKeepers
CEO John Englander
englander@seakeepers.org
954-766-7100
www.seakeepers.org