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The waters surrounding the Cayman Islands are rich in marine biodiversity, including coral reefs, seagrass beds, and diverse fish species. A high-resolution map of the seafloor is a prerequisite for exploring, identifying, characterizing, exploiting, conserving, and managing ocean resources.
Saildrone has begun a six-month mission to map 29,300 square nautical miles (100,530 sq km) of the Cayman Islands' Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). This mission represents a major milestone in ocean mapping: using autonomous technology to survey 80% of the Cayman Islands’ EEZ.
The Cayman Islands EEZ, extending up to 200 nautical miles from shore, encompasses an area about half the size of Florida—and 380 times greater than the island itself. The mission will provide detailed and precise bathymetric data for the Cayman Islands, contributing to a comprehensive understanding of the seafloor topography in the region. The data collected will not only enhance maritime navigation and charting but also support scientific research, environmental conservation efforts, and marine resource management in the Cayman Islands.
The Saildrone Surveyor USV is a purpose-built platform for autonomous deep-water ocean mapping.
“Saildrone’s Surveyor class of USVs provides an available, economical, climate-friendly solution to mapping the world’s oceans,” said Brian Connon, Saildrone VP Ocean Mapping. “The data gathered by this USV will provide valuable insights into the Cayman Islands’ underwater topography, aiding in the mapping and exploration of the country’s marine resources and ecosystems.”
The mission is philanthropically funded by the London & Amsterdam Trust Company Limited, a Cayman-based organization that wants to leave a legacy to the Cayman Islands. Saildrone will collect the raw bathymetry data, which will be provided to the UK Hydrographic Office to process and update the Cayman Islands’ nautical charts. The data will belong to the government of the Cayman Islands.
“Our waters hold such great value to us for a myriad of reasons ranging from recreational to economic. Conducting this assessment will allow our government to make data-driven decisions that will strengthen our policies and legislations as it relates to our maritime infrastructure,” said Premier and Minister for District Administration & Lands, Hon. Juliana O’Connor-Connolly. “I am grateful to all parties who have worked to bring this initiative to this junction and am eager to learn of the survey’s results and outcomes.”
Autonomous, low-carbon seafloor exploration
The mission is being conducted using a 20-meter Saildrone Surveyor uncrewed surface vehicle (USV), equipped with the latest multibeam echo sounders and metocean sensors for ocean mapping and ecosystem monitoring, as well as radar, cameras, and advanced machine learning. Globally, only 26% of the ocean has been mapped, a result of the lack of survey ship capacity. While a survey ship takes years to build, Saildrone can produce one Surveyor in as little as six weeks—at a fraction of the cost of a ship.
The use of Saildrone USVs for seafloor mapping has also been shown to avoid over 97% of operational carbon emissions, as compared to a survey ship, while reducing risk to personnel.
Saildrone’s ocean mapping solutions support storm surge modeling efforts and emergency response, as well as coastal resiliency and hazard studies, resource management, restoration projects, habitat mapping, and infrastructure for renewable energy generation. The deployment of the Saildrone Surveyor in the Cayman Islands promises to revolutionize bathymetric data collection. USVs equipped with deep ocean mapping sonars now offer an attractive, and economical option for data collection in large areas like EEZs.
Vehicle operations for the week of November 11, 2024
Saildrone will provide local mariners with detailed information, updated in this article below, about the location of the Surveyor vehicle when it is scheduled to operate close to shore or near popular fishing and boating areas.
For the period of November 11 – November 17, Saildrone Surveyor SD-3001 transited ~90NM SW to avoid storm impacts caused by Tropical Storm Rafael. Surveying is underway in the southernmost portion of the EEZ, indicated by the yellow outline:
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Saildrone operating area coordinates indicated by the yellow outline on the map:
Upper left: 18.31019 N, 82.79232 W
Lower right: 17.6126 N, 80.59368 W
Still have questions?
As the survey progresses, when the vehicle scheduled to operate close to shore or near popular fishing and boating areas, updates will be published on this blog.
For more specific information regarding the location of the vehicles or other questions about the mission, please contact Saildrone Program Manager Kitch Kennedy at kitch.kennedy@saildrone.com
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