ALPHONSE ISLAND, A BRITISH-LED scientific mission to document changes taking place beneath the Indian Ocean has broadcast its first live, television-quality video transmission from a two-person submersible. Monsoon storms and fierce underwater currents continued to present a challenge at greater depths as scientific work began in earnest on Tuesday off the Seychelles. ‘The Associated Press’ has successfully broadcast the first multi-camera live signal in full broadcast quality from manned submersibles using optical video transmission techniques, in which the pictures transmit through the waves using the blue region of the electromagnetic spectrum.

 

 

Previous real-time video transmissions from the world’s deep oceans were livestreams sent from remotely operated unmanned subsea vehicles, with the video moving via fixed fiber optic cable. The first transmission came from 60 meters (200 feet) down. Previous deep-sea livestreams cataloguing the world’s oceans have been via fiber-optic cable. The new broadcast uses cutting-edge wireless technology, sending video optically through the waves. ‘The Associated Press’ is the only news agency working with British scientists from the Nekton research team on its deep-sea mission that aims to unlock the secrets of the Indian Ocean, one of the world’s least explored areas.