Page 8: of Marine Technology Magazine (September 2020)

Leading O?

Innovative products, technologies, concepts & people

Inside Fabien Cousteau’s PROTEUS

An Underwater Scienti? c Research Station and Habitat

If Aquanaut and Ocean explorer Fabi- lenges created by climate change, rising “PROTEUS is a hopeful step forward en Cousteau’s dream comes to fruition, sea levels, extreme storms and viruses in spreading the message that we must by mid-2023 the ? rst inhabitants will be represent a multi-trillion-dollar risk to protect the ocean as if our lives depend heading down to occupy PROTEUS, an the global economy.” on it,” said Dr. Sylvia Earle, Ocean Am- underwater scienti? c research station PROTEUS is envisioned to be approx- bassador of the FCOLC and American and habitat to help address medicinal imately 4,000 sq. ft. when complete, or marine biologist, explorer, and National discoveries, food sustainability, and the more than four times the size of any pre- Geographic explorer-in-residence, and impacts of climate change. viously known underwater habitat, and fondly known as “Her Deepness”. “Liv-

PROTEUS, which has a $135 mil- will feature: ing underwater gives us the gift of time lion budget over the next three years to • Labs, sleeping quarters and a moon and the incredible perspective of being build and operate, is a project of the Fa- pool. a resident on the reef. You’re not just a bien Cousteau Ocean Learning Center • The ? rst underwater greenhouse visitor anymore.” (FCOLC), conceived as the underwater • Power via hybrid sources includ- The onsite labs will facilitate process- version of the International Space Sta- ing wind, solar, and Ocean Thermal ing of organic samples that can be stud- tion, a platform for global collaboration Energy Conversion (OTEC). ied in real time, rather than the speci- among researchers, academics, govern- • A full-scale video production fa- mens rapidly degrading or dying during ment agencies and corporations. cility to provide continuous live the journey to the surface and onward to “As our life support system, the Ocean streaming for educational program- far-reaching land laboratories. is indispensable to solving the planet’s ming, and delivery of augmented PROTEUS will be located off of the biggest problems,” said Cousteau at the and virtual reality to collaborators Island of Curaçao, at a depth of 60 feet time of PROTEUS’ launching. “Chal- worldwide. (3 atmospheres) in the richly biodiverse

PROTEUS is projected to be a 4,000-sq. ft. underwater scien- ti? c research station and habitat.

Fabien Cousteau Ocean Learning Center (FCOLC) 8 September 2020

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