Skip to main content
Ocean Networks Canada

Ocean Networks Canada

Search form

Facebook iconTwitter iconLinkedIn iconYouTube iconFlickr iconInstagram icon

Menu

  • About Us
    • About Us
    • Jobs & Opportunities
    • Events & Workshops
    • Contact Us
    • Support Us
    • Annual Report 2019-2020
    • Organization
      • Leadership
      • Staff
      • Boards
      • Committees
    • Funders, Associate Members & Partners
      • Funders
      • Associate Members
      • Partners
  • Science
    • Science
    • Active Research
    • Highlights
    • Science Plan
      • Summary
      • Science Themes
    • Publications
      • General Interest
      • Academic
    • Getting Involved
      • Proposals
  • Innovation Centre
    • Innovation Centre
    • About the Innovation Centre
    • Success Stories
    • Contact Us
    • Smart Ocean™ Systems
      • Sensors and Instruments
      • Technology Demos
      • Ocean Observing Systems
      • Earthquake Early Warning
    • Partners & Networks
      • Industry Network
      • Global Partnerships
      • R&D Support
      • Students in Industry
    • Atlantic Partners
  • Learning
    • Learning
    • Learning Highlights
    • Learning Events
    • Partnerships
    • Contact Us
    • Ocean Sense
      • Community Observatories
        • Cambridge Bay
        • Campbell River
        • Kitamaat Village
        • Prince Rupert
      • Teacher Info
      • Student Info
      • Resources & Lessons
    • Get Involved
      • For Students
        • For Undergrads & Grads
      • For Educators
        • Educator Opportunities
      • For Communities
      • Ship2Shore
      • Citizen Science
        • Coastbuster
        • Digital Fishers
      • Youth Science Ambassador
    • Resources
      • Learning at Home
      • Educator Resources
      • Ocean Alive!
      • Oceanography 101
      • About the Observatories
      • Research Ideas
      • Student Reports
  • Observatories
    • Observatories
    • Arctic
    • Atlantic
    • Pacific
    • Mobile Platforms
    • Infrastructure
      • Data Facilities
      • Platforms
      • Devices & Sensors
      • Cables & Connectors
    • Expeditions
      • Wiring the Abyss
      • Expedition Logs
      • Maintenance Processes
    • Notices
      • Information for Mariners
      • Alerts
  • Data & Tools
    • Data & Tools
    • Highlights
    • Data Quality
    • Preview & Download
      • Preview & Visualize
      • Data Download Tools
      • State of the Ocean Plots
      • Ocean Report Card
    • Apps & Services
      • Mobile Apps
      • OPeNDAP Web Services
      • Related Sources
      • Earthquake Data Dashboard
    • Data Help
      • Usage Policy
      • Tutorials & Help Pages
      • Request Help
  • Sights & Sounds
    • Sights & Sounds
    • Terms of Use
    • Video
      • Live Video
      • Video Highlights
      • Video Archives
    • Images
      • Maps
    • Audio
      • Audio Highlights
      • Audio Archive
  • News
    • News
    • Stories
    • Newsletters
    • Calendar
    • Media Relations
      • Backgrounders
      • Downloads
      • In the News
      • News Releases
      • Media Contacts

About Us

You are here

  1. Home
Dec 14, 2012

About Ocean Networks Canada

The 800-km NEPTUNE observatory and the nearly 50-km VENUS coastal observatory—which together make up the Ocean Networks Canada Observatory—stream live data from instruments at key sites off coastal BC via the Internet to scientists, policy-makers, educators and the public around the world.

Long-term observations by the Ocean Networks Canada will have wide-ranging policy applications in the areas of ocean and climate change, earthquakes and tsunamis, pollution, port security and shipping, resource development, sovereignty and security, and ocean management.

The VENUS coastal observatory is giving us a better understanding of vital water ways such as the Strait of Georgia and Fraser River delta. VENUS is currently expanding its seafloor network, coastal radar and surface systems, including instrumentation on BC Ferries vessels. The new data will provide information for marine safety, search and rescue, and oil spill response.

Overview Map

Seismographs on the NEPTUNE observatory are monitoring earthquake activity and stresses in the Earth’s crust—crucial information for emergency organizations and coastal residents.

Super-sensitive bottom pressure recorders on the NEPTUNE observatory are part of one of the most precise real-time tsunami monitoring systems in the world.

Specialized underwater microphones, or hydrophones, on VENUS and NEPTUNE are tracking the movements of marine mammals, giving us a better understanding of how human activity in busy inland waters is affecting marine wildlife—such as endangered resident orcas.

Specialized sensors, cameras and remotely controlled sampling devices at NEPTUNE’s Endeavour site are learning more about life forms unlike anything else found on Earth, such as organisms that thrive in the dark using energy from chemical reactions. 

In fall 2012, Ocean Networks Canada installed a new observatory at Cambridge Bay, Nunavut, which will help the local community, as well as researchers, better understand the rapidly changing sea ice and ocean conditions in the Arctic.

Ocean Networks Canada is building partnerships with academia, governments and industry across Canada and around the world. It supports marine sector companies in gaining entry points to new markets worldwide. And it leverages the technology and expertise of VENUS and NEPTUNE in the development of new products and services for the global ocean observing industry.

About Ocean Networks Canada

Ocean Networks Canada (ONC) is a not-for-profit society created in 2007 by the University of Victoria to develop and manage the NEPTUNE and VENUS Observatories, to position Canada as an international leader in the science and technology of ocean observing systems, and to maximize associated economic and societal benefits through commercialization and outreach. 

The Ocean Networks Canada Innovation Centre (formerly "Centre for Enterprise and Engagement, ONCCEE)" supports the Ocean Networks Canada by providingocean-observing expertise to industry, academia and governments across Canada and around the world. The Innovation Centre also offers Canadian marine technology companies commercialization expertise and the opportunity to demonstrate their sensors and instruments on a world-class ocean observatory.

For more information see the Overview page.

Ocean Networks Canada | venus | NEPTUNE | Backgrounder

Printer-friendly versionPDF version

Related Stories

New research explains why Saanich Inlet is good for the climate
Jul 31, 2020

Oceans 2.0: An Internet of Things for the Ocean
Feb 9, 2018

ONC's best videos and photos of 2016
Dec 15, 2016

Monitoring Saanich Inlet and the Strait of Georgia: Fall inshore expedition (2016)
Oct 31, 2016

Expedition 2016 Wrap: Bigger Footprint Enables Better Science
Jul 8, 2016

Wiring the Abyss 2016 Leg 1 - Summary and Highlights
Jun 1, 2016

A Tenth Anniversary Inshore Maintenance Cruise
Jun 1, 2016

Calendar of Events

January 2021

  • « Prev  
  •   Next »
S M T W T F S
27
28
29
30
31
1
2
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
31
1
2
3
4
5
6
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Newsletter

Sign up for our monthly e-newsletter:

 

Tweets Follow @Ocean_Networks

 

 

Highlights

  • Audio
  • Data
  • Learning
  • Science
  • Video

Reading Room

  • Active Research
  • Backgrounders
  • FAQs
  • Glossary
  • News Briefs
  • News Stories
  • Newsletters
  • Publications

Cool Stuff

  • Apps
  • Digital Fishers
  • iBooks & e-Pubs
  • Live Video
  • Maps
  • Images
  • State of the Ocean

Data & Tools

  • Apps
  • Data Plots
  • Data Search
  • Data Policy
  • Data Help
  • OPeNDAP Web Services

Opportunities

  • Calendar
  • Educator Opportunities
  • Global Partnerships
  • Industry Network
  • Jobs
  • Staff List
  • Technology Services

Sites & Instruments

  • Arctic Sites
  • Northeast Pacific Sites
  • Salish Sea Sites
  • Notice to Mariners

Follow Us

Facebook iconTwitter iconLinkedIn iconYouTube iconFlickr iconInstagram icon

Sign up for our newsletter

Feedback

CAPTCHA
This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.
Image CAPTCHA
Enter the characters shown in the image.

                              

About Us | Contact Us | Media Relations | Legal Notices

©   Ocean Networks Canada. All rights reserved.  2474 Arbutus Road, Victoria, BC, V8N 1V8 | 1.250.472.5400