For the past 4 years, the Paleoenvironmental Laboratory of Dr. Vera Pospelova (University of Victoria, School of Earth and Ocean Sciences) has been involved in continuous monitoring program of fossilizable phytoplankton in Saanich Inlet, British Columbia. Part of the phytoplankton sampling for the research program is done using a sediment trap deployed on the VENUS Observatory. Controlled over the Internet, the sediment trap is an example of interactive instrument installed on the cabled ocean observatory that allows researchers changing instrument settings and monitor status of their experiment over the web.