Today is World Ocean Day, a day officially recognized by the United Nations to support and foster public interest in the protection of the ocean and the sustainable management of its resources. Each year groups all around the world take part in activities such as beach clean-ups, charity fundraisers or education events for school-aged children.
Many members of the Decision Management Solutions team are personally interested and involved in conservation activities and that is one of the many reasons we are passionate about the MAS 400 ship’s work. Anyone who has been following us for a while knows that the groundbreaking creation of the Mayflower Autonomous Ship is something we have followed closely. Seeing the combination of advanced analytics and IBM’s Operational Decision Manager in a nontraditional setting has been exciting and has helped our clients see different ways technology can help in their businesses.
After completing the crossing from Plymouth UK to the United States, autonomously – which was an incredible feat in of itself – the real work began for MAS 400. At her core she is a research vessel with a mandate to focus on three areas of research:
- Ocean Health
- Marine Mammals
- Open Ocean Tides and Waves
In August 2022 she arrived at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute (WHOI) in Massachusetts to begin her work as part of a collaboration with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the University of Rhode Island (URI) where they will explore the Twilight Zone of the Northern Atlantic. The Ocean Twilight Zone (OTZ) project includes 3 other vessels and once they have done the manual effort of tagging sharks, analyzing acoustic sounds of marine animals, or measuring carbon movement the MAS 400 will begin combing the waters using onboard sonar and other instruments as well as data collected by the tagged sharks to continue monitoring the twilight zone.
This project is a beautiful example of combining a wide variety of technology to answer complicated questions. Do you have a business problem that would benefit from advanced decision automation and machine learning? Give us a call to discuss.
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