Page 10: of Marine Technology Magazine (September 2023)

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Spotting Whales – Real Time – with the Alseamar SeaExplorer

PIAQUO Project aims to reduce the acoustic impact of maritime traf? c and adapting it in real time to the ecosystems. A main technology partner is the

Alseamar SeaExplorer glider, as Laurent Beguery, Alseamar, explains.

Based in Rousset, France, Alseamar is made of ? ve business volcano. “Each mission is only two weeks long, because the units, three of them dedicated to product (buoyancy modules, glider has to stay in the layer of water between 900 meter and radio communication antennas and gliders); two dedicated to 1,000 meters,” said Beguery. This operational envelope burns service and support (life extension services and the SeaEx- a lot of energy, particularly with a complete sensor suite that plorer glider ‘mission as a service’.) But perhaps it is the includes a CH4 sensor, a CO2 sensor, an ADCP, an oxygen

SeaExplorer glider for which Alseamar is best known, and to sensor and a CTD. “Every other week we recover the glider, date Alseamar has produced more than 100 gliders, most of get the data and send it back to sea. It’s as easy as that. In fact, which are still in operation, said Beguery. the main characteristic of the SeaExplorer glider is that we “SeaExplorer is a glider that can run for months and dive to want to make it easy to use.” 1,000 meters, but what’s really interesting is the glider’s ease The ease-of-use starts with the glider con? guration itself, as of use,” said Beguery. While the hardware is well-proven in Alseamar works closely with the end user to deliver a vehicle the ? eld, Beguery said the real value proposition to SeaEx- con? gured precise for the mission at hand. “Some customers plorer is to view it holistically as a system, which includes the have very speci? c sensors they want to use, so we do a lot of physical glider plus the piloting interface called GLIMPSE. glider design for those customers,” said Beguery. “The fact “This really helps you to prepare your mission,” said Beguery, that we are a company doing product and services make us highlighting an existing mission where there has been a single unique: the data matters to us. What I sell as a service com- glider on station for more than two years to monitor a subsea pany is analysis of the data. So when we put a sensor on top 10 September/October 2023

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