Past, present and future of inshore observations in the Salish Sea with Ocean Networks Canada
We want to hear from you
Help celebrate successes and shape future observing in the Salish Sea! Join Ocean Networks Canada (ONC) at the VENUS/Salish Sea Workshop on July 15-17, 2025 to share your knowledge and contribute your vision.
About the Workshop
Over 2 ½ days, we will first review past findings from VENUS then envision the observatory’s future.
Date: July 15-17, 2025
Who: This workshop is intended for interested researchers, First Nation communities, governments and industry.
Format: This workshop will be offered in hybrid format: both in-person and online.
Location: University of Victoria
Register Now: Please confirm your in-person attendance request before April 30, 2025; remote participation registration will remain open.
Even if you are unable to attend this workshop we still want to hear from you! Please complete this brief survey so your questions and ideas can be incorporated into the workshop plan.
Workshop Support
For those attending in person, light breakfast, lunch and coffee breaks will be provided. Online participation is possible for those who lack travel funds. We will also try to mobilize funds for exceptional circumstances when participants need support to join in-person, on a case by case basis. Please contact us via ue-officer@oceannetworks.ca to inquire further.
More Background
Ocean Networks Canada (ONC) is a world-leading ocean observing facility hosted and owned by the University of Victoria (UVic), and managed and operated by the ONC Society, a not-for-profit established in 2007. ONC delivers ocean data from its cabled, mobile and community-based observing networks that represent an essential component of Canada’s ocean observing science capacity.
By bringing data to the surface, ONC provides ocean intelligence to scientists, governments, organizations, and citizens. Ocean data are archived, processed and made freely available via ONC’s data management system, Oceans 3.0.
The idea for seafloor cabled observatories was conceived in the 1990s and became a reality in Canada in August 2002 with funding from the Canada Foundation for Innovation and the BC Knowledge Development Fund. These funds helped build and deploy the Victoria Experimental Network Under the Sea (VENUS for short) in the Salish Sea, which started streaming data in February 2006.
Future of VENUS
Two decades later, ONC is now seeking to celebrate the discoveries and progress made through VENUS, as well as revisit the original scientific ideas in the light of today’s community needs and technological capabilities. The time is now right to consider how VENUS observing systems may be reconfigured to help address tomorrow’s questions for the Salish Sea.
From those who have already been involved with ONC, we want to hear about your research and lessons learned. And from everyone: Which observation series should be continued and which have concluded? Where can ONC best utilize existing operations and maintenance funds? Where would new proposals be needed for new ideas?
