Ocean Discovery League Inc

THE OCEAN DISCOVERY LEAGUE'S MISSION IS TO ACCELERATE DEEP-OCEAN EXPLORATION BY DEVELOPING ACCESSIBLE SYSTEMS TO BROADEN THE COMMUNITY OF THOSE WHO EXPLORE AND UNDERSTAND THE DEEP SEA.

BRISTLEMOUTH PIONEER PROGRAM. IN COLLABORATION WITH SOFAR OCEAN, THE ORGANIZATION SUPPORTED THE BRISTLEMOUTH PIONEER PROGRAM TO ACCELERATE THE DEVELOPMENT OF SOLUTIONS TO SOME OF THE ENORMOUS CHALLENGES THAT FACE OUR PLANET. THE PROGRAM IS INTENDED TO FAST-TRACK HARDWARE TO DEVELOPERS, SCIENTISTS, AND START-UPS. BY JOINING THIS PROGRAM USERS CAN BE AMONGST THE FIRST TO START DEVELOPING OCEAN EXPLORATION AND MONITORING HARDWARE WITH BRISTLEMOUTH. IN 2023, THE PIONEER PROGRAM AWARDED 56 APPLICATIONS, SUPPORTED 200 FORUM USERS, AND HOSTED NEARLY 200 IN-PERSON AND VIRTUAL ATTENDEES AT THE FIRST ANNUAL BRISTLECON DEVELOPER CONVENTION.

LOW-COST, ACCESSIBLE SYSTEM DEVELOPMENT. THE ORGANIZATION IS CREATING LOW-COST, EASY-TO-USE DEEP-SEA SYSTEMS TO GATHER THE MOST CRITICAL DATA TO INFORM DEEP-SEA ENVIRONMENTAL DECISION-MAKING. IN 2023, THE ORGANIZATION SUPPORTED A DIVERSE GROUP OF MAKA NIU WORLDWIDE TO EXPLORE AND UNDERSTAND THEIR OWN DEEP-SEA HABITATS BY LAUNCHING THEIR LIGHTING SYSTEM LENDING PROGRAM, IMPROVED SOFTWARE FOR AN EASY-TO-USE USER INTERFACE, DEVELOPED TWO DEPLOYMENT SYSTEMS USING READILY AVAILABLE RESOURCES AND FIELD TESTED THE SYSTEMS ABOARD CAPN BERT AND NOAA SHIP OKEANOS EXPLORER. THE ORGANIZATION IMPROVED THE SOFTWARE AND USER INTERFACE OF THE WAYFINDER SYSTEM AND PARTNERED WITH THE MARITIME AQUARIUM IN NORWALK, CT, TO TEST IT. THE ORGANIZATIONS PROPOSAL FOR THE NOAA-NOS-IOOS OCEAN TECHNOLOGY TRANSITION PROJECT WAS ACCEPTED TO RECEIVE $1.2M USD TO DEVELOP THE NEW DEEP OCEAN RESEARCH AND IMAGING SYSTEM (DORIS).

OCEAN VISION AI. THE ORGANIZATION IS CONTINUING WORK ON THE OCEAN VISION AI PORTAL, AN ONLINE PLATFORM WHERE THOUSANDS OF HOURS OF DEEP-OCEAN VIDEO WILL BE AUTOMATICALLY TRANSCODED, OBJECTS DETECTED, AND INITIAL CLASSIFICATION DONE WITH MINIMAL HUMAN INTERVENTION. THIS WORK WILL ACCELERATE THE PROCESSING OF VISUAL UNDERWATER DATA WITH A GLOBALLY INTEGRATED NETWORK OF SERVICES, TOOLS, AND A DIVERSE COMMUNITY OF USERS. IN 2023, THE ORGANIZATION COMPLETED BETA 2 TESTING, ENGAGED EXTERNAL USERS IN THE TESTING PROCESS, AND ENTERED THE NEXT PHASE OF DEVELOPMENT BUILDING TOWARD BETA 3 TESTING IN APRIL 2024. OCEAN VISION AI IS FUNDED BY THE NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION, AND THE WORK IS CONDUCTED WITH THE MONTEREY BAY AQUARIUM RESEARCH INSTITUTE, PURDUE UNIVERSITY, CVISION AI, AND OTHER COLLABORATORS.