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Our 2016 Call for Solutions is open!
We're accepting applications for our 2016 monetary awards cycle.
This year the Gulfstream® Navigator Award 2016 is focused on solutions in the area of renewable energy in celebration of Gulfstream’s investment in renewable fuels. Application deadline: Tuesday, May 17, 2016, at 11:59PM GMT.
The WWL Orcelle® Award 2016 is open to solutions that make shipping and logistics more sustainable by advancing zero-emission, marine and/or land based technologies that are commercially viable. Application deadline: Tuesday, May 17, 2016, at 11:59PM GMT.
In partnership with Georgia Southern University we are accepting applications for the second year of the collegiate-focused BIG Pitch Competition. Application deadline: Friday, September 30, 2016, 11:59pm GMT.
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Welcome to the Ocean Exchange's
Monthly Newsletter
April 2016 Edition
Our featured solution providers this month are:
2011 Finalist, MARE Group, and 2013 registrant, PlanetOS.
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MARE Group
The Marine Applied Research & Exploration or MARE Group was an Ocean Exchange Solutions Inspiring Action contest finalist in 2011 with their solution, the Benthic Assessment Towfish, or BATFish. BATfish is one of MARE’s suite of remotely operated vehicles (ROVs), which operates at a depth of 100m with a light operational and cost footprint.
BATFish hanging over water.
BATFish cuts the cost of deepwater High Definition video surveys by 66 percent when compared with observation class ROVs. It is a highly maneuverable, rapid-deployment tool, which allows businesses and governments to economically chip away at the 95 percent unexplored ocean. It performs broad area surveys of rocky reef, seafloor, and midwater down to 350 feet deep at up to 3 knots. It is towed from a 20 feet long or longer boat of opportunity, found in every harbor. Setup normally takes an hour, and then the survey begins.
Since applying with Ocean Exchange, MARE has been active in both ocean surveying activities and technology advancement. In addition to upgrades to their deep sea ROV, the Beagle, MARE has now conducted more than 2,000 kilometers of surveys within Marine Protected Areas, or MPAs, on the California coast. This surveying is part of the California Statewide MPA Monitoring Program, and aims to show the impact of the MPA designation on the ecosystems.
Dirk Rosen (right) interviewed on Bay area news station KPIX in April, 2016.
Other work included studying fish populations --more than 1.6 million individual animals were identified during 2015 surveys. Additional studies included observing the impacts of trawl fishing gear, and also recovering lost scientific equipment. More details on these projects and other work is available in MARE’s digital impact report detailing their current projects, technology, and future plans.
MARE has also been featured on both local news in the San Francisco Bay area, (link to TV interview), and online in podcast form. MARE is based in Richmond, California.
Photos provided by Dirk Rosen of MARE Group.
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Planet OS
Planet OS, formerly known as Marinexplore, was an Ocean Exchange Solutions Inspiring Action registrant in 2013. The Industrial IoT (Internet of Things) company is focused on geospatial sensor networks, Environmental Intelligence and Earth Observation with offices in Silicon Valley and Estonia.
Planet OS network.
Planet OS solves data access and decision support problems for the energy industry and government agencies – NASA, NOAA and RWE among others. For example, the first joint project of Planet OS and RWE included a dashboard for monitoring the world's second largest offshore park in Wales.
In addition, during recent years, the company has done significant work with open data. This March they launched Planet OS public API to simplify access to the world's weather and climate data. Planet OS API provides developers, researchers, and climate specialists a new tool for working with Earth data from the world’s most respected providers.
In fact, four years ago, when the company was named Marinexplore, they worked towards making ocean data easy to find and access, and herein promote informed, data-driven decisions with far reaching political, social and economic benefits. Marinexplore team collaborated with startups building autonomous vessels, academic research teams, and national agencies. Their platform had data from over 40,000 in-situ platforms to a community of nearly 9,000 professionals.
 Example of a Planet OS open data set
(Click image for full sized version)
A year ago the company made a decision to further their commitment to Earth observation data by rebranding to Planet OS. It’s anticipated that by 2020 there will be more than 26 billion devices connected to the Internet of Things. While our oceans cover roughly 71 percent of Earth’s total surface, most of these new devices will be terrestrial or launched into orbit. Herein, as of May 1st Planet OS will be shutting down Marinexplore and invites you to join the recently announced Planet OS API service to discover and access high-quality weather and climate data by creating a free account at data.planetos.com.
Photos provided by Planet OS.
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News and Updates from
Ocean Exchange
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Attend the Ocean Exchange Event as a Delegate
This year's annual event is November 9 - 11, in Savannah, GA.
 Ocean Exchange Delegates are invited to the role by our Board of Governors and Executive Team. Voting Delegates attend presentations by the fifteen Navigator and Orcelle® finalists, as well as the eight BIG Pitch finalists. Voting Delegates participate in small group discussions about the Solutions, and ultimately choose the winners of the three awards.
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Atlanta Better Buildings Challenge
Several of the 2015 Ocean Exchange finalists are presenting at the upcoming Atlanta Better Buildings Challenge event on Thursday, May 5th 2016, in Atlanta, GA.
The event is by invitation only so please contact Millicent Pitts at 912-257-0209 to place an invitation request.
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Visit Ocean Exchange on LinkedIn
The Ocean Exchange Delegates and Friends LinkedIn group is a great way to connect with us at Ocean Exchange, and our ecosystem of innovators.
The group is an open network for former delegates of the Ocean Exchange event, started in 2011, plus other parties who expressed interest in our network. Members are welcome to connect with each other and use this group as one mechanism to stay in touch with Ocean Exchange information.
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