VENUS / Salish Sea Workshop 15-17 July 2025
Rooms 101 & 109
Past, present and future of inshore observations in the Salish Sea with Ocean Networks Canada
About the Workshop
The VENUS/Salish Sea Workshop occured July 15-17, 2025. Over 2 ½ days, we reviewed past findings from VENUS and envisioned the observatory’s future.
Date: July 15-17, 2025
Who: This workshop was intended for interested researchers, First Nation communities, governments and industry.
Format: This workshop was offered in hybrid format: both in-person and online.
Location: University of Victoria
Workshop Slides, Recordings & Final Report
Workshop slides and recordings are linked from the Workshop Timetable page.
The final report from this workshop was released on 26 November, 2025. Download the report
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?
