Advertise on podcast: Revealing Hidden Depths - the Seabed 2030 Podcast

Seabed 2030 is a joint project of the Nippon Foundation, International Hydrographic Organisation and Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO, to accelerate completion of the General Bathymetric Chart of the Ocean. In the October 2026 episode, Seabed 2030 Head of Partnerships Stephen Hall speaks to Dr Boris Dorschel, head of the Seabed 2030 Southern Ocean Regional Center.  Boris speaks about the work of the Center, the challenges of bathymetric mapping in icy waters, how the international Southern Ocean research community work particularly closely together to share data and discoveries, and about some of the new discoveries made mapping this remote area of seabed.  Find out more about the Southern Ocean Regional Center at https://seabed2030.org/southern-ocean/ and you can contact Dr Dorschel directly here.  You can view the digital bathymetric model (DBM) of IBCSO Version 2 at 500m x 500m resolution based on a polar stereographic projection for the area south of 50°S at https://ibcso.org/ibsco-v2/ Find out more about Seabed 2030 at www.seabed2030.org, contact Stephen Hall if you'd like to feature on a future episode or with questions and feedback here.  With thanks to Emily Keep (nee Boddy) for music.  Revealing Hidden Depths - the Seabed 2030 Podcast Find out more about our project at www.seabed2030.org  Brought to you by the Nippon Foundation and GEBCO

For our 25th episode, Seabed 2030 Head of Partnerships Stephen Hall speaks to Peter Burger of the UN Ocean Decade Corporate Data Group. Peter is on secondment from our key industry partner Fugro to the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission headquarters at UNESCO in Paris, where he heads a team with a unique responsibility to facilitate the sharing and transfer of data gathered by industry into UN Ocean Decade programmes and projects such as Seabed 2030. It's not only bathymetry data, but a wide range of parameters needed by a number of the long term observing programmes.  In the interview, Peter talks about the work of the Corporate Data Group, how they engage with industry, and he encourages listeners to get in touch so that they too can contribute to global ocean knowledge.  You can find out more about the Corporate Data Group at https://oceandecade.org/ocean-decade-corporate-data-group/ and can contact Peter directly here.  Find out more about Seabed 2030 at www.seabed2030.org and contact Stephen Hall here if you have any comments, questions and would like to feature on a future episode. Thanks for listening. Copyright Seabed 2030, 2026. Music by Emily Keep. Revealing Hidden Depths - the Seabed 2030 Podcast Find out more about our project at www.seabed2030.org  Brought to you by the Nippon Foundation and GEBCO

For the 24th episode of the Seabed 2030 Podcast, recorded in August 2026, Head of Partnerships Steve Hall speaks to Iain Vincent, Director & General Manager of ecoSUB Robotics, a specialist manufacturer of highly portable yet capable autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) based in the UK who have customers across the global ocean science and survey community. Iain is a graduate in Marine Environmental Science from the University of Portsmouth, and was a founder member of the Society of Maritime Industries Marine Autonomous Systems Group who have done valuable work to establish safe operating procedures for autonomous vehicles in crowded coastal waters.  ​In 2016 Iain was appointed as a Director of ecoSUB Robotics Limited, when the company was formed to spin out low cost AUV technology developed in collaboration between Planet Ocean and the National Oceanography Centre (NOC). He was appointed General Manager in 2022.  In this interview we learn about the design of the ecoSUB family of vehicles, their range and depth capabilities, the kind of sensor, visual and navigation technologies that they use, and how the company works with customers to ensure that operators can feel confident using systems to carry out science and ocean survey work straight out of the box.  Unlike large AUVs, that require a specialist mother ship and cranes or gantries, even the largest of the ecoSUB family can be carried by two people, and launched from small boats or the shore. The smallest system is one-person portable and can even be launched from aircraft or surface drone survey systems.  ecoSUB and parent company Planet Ocean are strongly engaged in the UN Decade of Ocean Science for sustainable development as technology partners to institutions and universities, and have a track record of supporting the work of Marine Learned Societies such as the Challenger Society for Marine Science and Society for Underwater Technology and others. They became Industry Partners with Seabed 2030 in 2023 and their products directly contribute bathymetric data to help deliver the first global map of the ocean floor.  For more information contact [email protected] or [email protected]  To find out more about Seabed 2030 see www.seabed2030.org and to contact the editor of the podcast please mail Steve Hall here.  Revealing Hidden Depths - the Seabed 2030 Podcast Find out more about our project at www.seabed2030.org  Brought to you by the Nippon Foundation and GEBCO

For our World Ocean Day June 2026 extra-length episode, Seabed 2030 Head of Partnerships Steve Hall interviews Dr Dawn Wright, Chief Scientist of the Environmental Systems Research Institute, better known as ESRI, and a leading exponent of how we understand data and share our discoveries for the greater good.  Dawn is a member of the Strategic Advisory Group for Seabed 2030 and holds many other honours - see here for her 'about us' page on the Seabed 2030 site and click here for her detailed cv. Many other links out there for Dawn, search for 'Deep Sea Dawn' and you'll find many links! Here's one from her page at ESRI  Her dive with Victor Vescovo to the Challenger Deep marked a career highlight in a long story of achievement that started modestly as a sea-going technician on board the JOIDES Resolution as part of the Ocean Drilling Programme in the 1980s.  In the episode Dawn talks about her long career, which has encompassed being a sea-going technician, 17 years as a professor of geography and oceanography at Oregon State University, authoring more than 180 articles and 12 books on marine geographical information systems and more. Her latest book "Mapping the Deep" is available through ESRI and your regular bookseller.  Dawn is a keen cyclist, a fan of Charles Schulz's 'Snoopy', and an inspirational role model.  Other links - YouTube 'Making the Limiting Factor' click here Laura Trethewey's book The Deepest Map as mentioned by Dawn.  YouTube Lego Stop Motion Diving Challenger Deep click here  Link to the story about Dawn's 'Snoopy' being archived by the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich here  Episode recorded and edited by Steve Hall, click here to email. Find out more about Seabed 2030 here. Music and extra narration by Emily Boddy.  Copyright Seabed 2030, 2026.  Revealing Hidden Depths - the Seabed 2030 Podcast Find out more about our project at www.seabed2030.org  Brought to you by the Nippon Foundation and GEBCO

Chesapeake Technology is one of our newest MoU partners and in Episode 22 of the Seabed 2030 Podcast, Head of Partnerships Stephen Hall interviews company President Evan Reinsberg who you can contact directly via the link here  Chesapeake Technology is a leader in ocean geophysical and seafloor mapping software, serving defense, government, academic, and commercial marine survey customers worldwide.  Their flagship product, SonarWiz 8, is the industry-standard desktop platform for hydrographic data acquisition, processing, and mapping. SonarWiz unifies multi-sensor data — sidescan sonar, sub-bottom profiling, bathymetry, and magnetometers — into a single GIS environment, and has set the standard for quality, simplicity, and workflow efficiency across the marine survey industry. SonarWiz Fathom extends the platform to the cloud, bringing the same trusted processing capabilities into a modern, collaborative environment. Fathom enables distributed teams to ingest, process, review, and deliver survey data from anywhere, with scalable cloud compute, role-based access, and streamlined deliverable generation — purpose-built for today's larger datasets, faster turnarounds, and distributed survey operations. Chesapeake Technology's customers include the world's leading navies, academic and research institutions, commercial survey companies, government agencies, and defence contractors worldwide. Private sector companies like Chesapeake Technology are key parts of our seabed mapping community, providing the software solutions essential for delivering the global map of the ocean, and we're delighted to welcome Evan and his colleagues as Seabed 2030 Partners.  We'll be back in June with a special World Ocean Day episode featuring Dr Dawn Wright.  Find out more about us at www.seabed2030.org, contact Steve via the link above with any questions, feedback, or to ask to be featured in a future episode. With thanks to Emily Boddy for music and intro/outro narration. Copyright 2026 Seabed 2030  #hydrospatial  Revealing Hidden Depths - the Seabed 2030 Podcast Find out more about our project at www.seabed2030.org  Brought to you by the Nippon Foundation and GEBCO

For our first podcast of 2026 we feature an interview with David Bautista of Tcarta, based out of their St John's Newfoundland office where they work closley with the staff of Memorial University, another valued Seabed 2030 Partner.  Contact David at [email protected] and see the Tcarta website here.  David is originally from Colombia, and finds the contrast ith Newfoundland quite noticeable! In the interview he taks about how satellite derived bathymetry (SBD) can play an important role in ocean mapping over shallow, clear, waters where the orbiting sensors can see the seabed well enough to make good estimates of bathymetry. It doesn't work much beyond a few tens of metres depth or in turbid waters, but can add valuable data to the global grid where the conditions are right.  Their homepage describes TCarta's service as "Remote Satellite-Based Hydrospatial Technologies, leveraging a long history of providing bathymetric data and seafloor mapping for marine applications, TCarta offers inland, coastal and offshore hydrospatial and geospatial mapping systems and solutions for geospatial remote sensing intelligence, coastal engineering, environmental and coastal monitoring, and global mapping applications.  Our dedicated team of GIS professionals, hydrographers, imagery analysts, and developers, along with our ecosystem of partner companies, work together to provide full-scope solutions to real world topics in a variety of applications – from engineering and exploration, to navigation and environmental monitoring, and Geospatial Intelligence. We have worked in the coastal waters throughout the globe and with large scale surveying initiatives in the Pacific, Caribbean and Indian Oceans and specific focus on remote island nations and challenging environments in the Middle East and Arctic regions." Find out more about Seabed 2030 here, and contact podast producer Steve Hall as [email protected]  Please note that in March we will be attending Economist World Ocean Summit in Montreal, and Oceanology International in London - with a special set of talks from our partners on 11th March. Hopefully see some of our listeners there!  Copyright Seabed 2030 2026, Music by Emily Boddy.  Revealing Hidden Depths - the Seabed 2030 Podcast Find out more about our project at www.seabed2030.org  Brought to you by the Nippon Foundation and GEBCO

For our December 2025 episode, Head of Partnerships Steve Hall speaks to Bridgit Boulahanis, Director of Data & Solutions, and Charles Chiau CEO, CTO & co-founder of Bedrock Ocean Exploration - one of the very first industry Partners to join forces with Seabed 2030 back in 2020, a USA-based compay that "develops technology to rethink the way the world collects and uses seafloor data" with the tagline "Systematically exploring the oceans." Bridgit and Charles speak about the company's passion for seabed mapping and knowledge sharing, including the innovative Mosaic system that allows users to log-in for very high resolution seabed mapping of up to 25cm resolution in areas where the data exists.  Bedrock are also a very well respected builder of specialist marine autonomous systems. They are a vertically-integrated ocean exploration company developing proprietary robotics and software to quickly and cheaply explore the entirety of the Earth’s oceans on a scale not hitherto possible, offering subsea survey services (Hydro, Geo, UXO, etc.) as well as paired cloud & local software to effectively store, process and make sense of their client's subsea data. For more information about Bedrock contact Charles at [email protected] or Bridgit at [email protected]  Towards the end of the podcast we mention the forthcoming opportunity to learn more about Seabed 2030 at two sessions we're organising on 11th March 2026 during Oceanology International - contact Steve at [email protected] for more information.  With thanks to Emily Boddy for podcast music, intro & outro.  Copyright 2025 Seabed 2030  Revealing Hidden Depths - the Seabed 2030 Podcast Find out more about our project at www.seabed2030.org  Brought to you by the Nippon Foundation and GEBCO

For our 19th episode our Head of Partnerships Steve Hall interviews Isabella Glušauskaite of the World Ocean Council, a long-standing supporter of Seabed 2030 who play an important role in bringing an industry contribution into ocean science. The World Ocean Council (WOC) is the international alliance of ocean business and innovation leadership, working together to build a thriving, sustainable and regenerative blue economy. You can contact Isabella for more information here.  WOC works hard to engage industry in our community including hosting regular Ocean Summits, a 'Blue Finance' series, and operational sustained ocean observing and bathymetry-measuing projects with ships of opportunity. Find out more about Seabed 2030 at www.seabed2030.org and get in touch with podcast producer Steve Hall here.  Episode copyright 2025 Seabed 2030. With thanks to Emily Boddy for intro/outro narration and composing & performing the the music.  Revealing Hidden Depths - the Seabed 2030 Podcast Find out more about our project at www.seabed2030.org  Brought to you by the Nippon Foundation and GEBCO

For Podcast 18, August 2025, Seabed 2030 Head of Partnerships Steve Hall brings an update from our recent attendance at SubOptic 2025, a conference and trade show of the global subsea cables industry. We were invited by Alcatel Submarine Networks, one of the big three subsea cables companies, owned by the French state and Nokia. Alcatel are enthusiastic contributers to the work of the UN Ocean Decade Corporate Data Group.  The public don't always realise that the vast majority of international internet traffic is carried on thousands of kilometres of fibre optic cable laid across the ocean floor, not bounced off satellites. As such, the industry is one of the few that conducts bathymetric measurements at global scale - albeit along narrow tracks - and so is an essential source of new, and legacy, data for Seabed 2030 & GEBCO. Indeed from the earliest days of GEBCO, bathymetry supplied by cable layers has formed an important source of data.  In this episode we also introduce our Head of External Relations, Pegah Souri - she has been associated with the project for six years and is a key person for ensuring that the outside world knows about our work.  In the second part of the podcast, Steve runs through the topics covered in his presentation to industry at SubOptic, and finishes with a preview of the imminent publication of the Seabed Mapping Special Edition of the Marine Technology Society and Society for Underwater Technology journal, Volume 59 Number 2. Find out more about Seabed 2030 at www.seabed2030.org, contact the editor the podcast Steve Hall here, or Pegah Souri here.  Thank you for listening!  Revealing Hidden Depths - the Seabed 2030 Podcast Find out more about our project at www.seabed2030.org  Brought to you by the Nippon Foundation and GEBCO

In this episode Seabed 2030 Head of Partnerships Steve Hall reports on the UN Ocean Conference that was held in Nice in June 2025, with the main podcast going through a summary of what happened during the event, and then a 20 minute appendix where he reads through the Nice Ocean Action Plan.  Too much happened in the many side events to cover all aspects, so we've focused on the parts where we were present.  As well as Steve's narration, there are short recordings of Nippon Foundation Chairman Sasakawa speaking in Nice during the Global Ocean Data Sharing side event on Monday 9th June, and a clip of Seabed 2030 Director Jamie McMichael-Phillips during his panel session at the Economist World Ocean Initiative event on Tuesday 10th June. Steve also updates listeners on the latest update to percentage of ocean floor mapped, which was announced as 27.3% on World Hydrography Day, 21st June 2025.  Revealing Hidden Depths - the Seabed 2030 Podcast Find out more about our project at www.seabed2030.org  Brought to you by the Nippon Foundation and GEBCO

For episode 16 of the Seabed 2030 Podcast, recorded in April 2025, Seabed 2030 Head of Partnerships Steve Hall speaks to David Parker, who is Head of Hydrographic Programmes at the UK Hydrographic Office, Chair of the International Hydrographic Office Hydrographic Surveys Working Group, and one of the founding senior team for the UK Centre for Seabed Mapping.  David talks about his career, his role at UKHO, how his team work with customers from industry, government and the international community to deliver essential mapping products that ensure safety of navigation, inform marine spatial planning and seabed management, grow the Blue Economy and help deliver the UK's commitments to international programmes such as the UN Ocean Decade of Science for Sustainable Development. He speaks in detail about the role of the new UK Centre for Seabed Mapping, and finishes with a call to industry bodies, Learned Societies and Professional Institutes to get involved. Find out more about the UKHO https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/uk-hydrographic-office and the UK Centre for Seabed Mapping at https://www.admiralty.co.uk/uk-centre-for-seabed-mapping Find out more about Seabed 2030 at www.seabed2030.org and contact Steve Hall here.  Revealing Hidden Depths - the Seabed 2030 Podcast Find out more about our project at www.seabed2030.org  Brought to you by the Nippon Foundation and GEBCO

Podcast 15, March 2025 - apologies for delay with this one - we've all been busy with a series of workshops and conferences, spreading the word about why seabed mapping matters and signing up new partners. This episode focuses on one of those meetings, the Economist World Ocean Summit held in Tokyo on 12th & 13th March 2025. Seabed 2030 and GEBCO representatives were present, with the Nippon Foundation playing a key part throughout the event. Nippon Foundation Chair Mr Sasakawa opened the event, and his opening speech in English is featured from 4m44s into this podcast.  We also hosted a 'How to shape global standards for blue data, technology and capacity building?' workshop on the second day, and you can listen to Dr Vicki Ferrini, head of our Atlantic & Indian Ocean Center, Amon Kimeli of our Partner the Kenya Marine and Fisheries Research Institute; Børre Pedersen, Earth observation and satellite services specialist, Kongsberg Satellite Service and Jyotika Virmani Executive director, Schmidt Ocean Institute in the second half of the podcast.  We'll be back in April after the Ocean Business trade show in Southampton 8-10 April where you'll be able to find us in the long marquee next to the dockside, sharing a booth with our Partners of the Marine Technology Society - see you there! Contact Steve Hall, Head of Seabed 2030 Partnerships with any questions or if you'd like to be featured in a future episode of the Podcast.  With thanks to Emily Boddy for podcast music and intro narration.  Revealing Hidden Depths - the Seabed 2030 Podcast Find out more about our project at www.seabed2030.org  Brought to you by the Nippon Foundation and GEBCO

For the first episode of 2025 Seabed 2030 Head of Partnerships Steve Hall interviews Matthew Zimmerman, CEO and co-founder of FarSounder, based in Rhode Island USA, & one of our industry partners since Year 4 of the Project. FarSounder specialise in products such as 3D forward-looking sonars that don't only look down to map the seabed, but also scan forwards to enable users to avoid whales snoozing near the surface, or collisions with objects such as containers. FarSounder are very active in supporting Crowdsourced Bathymetry, and in outreach about the importance of seabed mapping for public benefit. Find out more about FarSounder at https://www.farsounder.com and you can contact Matthew via [email protected] Find out more about Seabed 2030 at www.seabed2030.org and contact podcast host & producer Steve Hall here. You can find on us Social Media as Seabed 2030. With thanks to Matthew for the interview, and to Emily Boddy for Podcast music and voiceover.  We'll be back throughout 2025 with a range of interview, check our webpage for forthcoming events.  Revealing Hidden Depths - the Seabed 2030 Podcast Find out more about our project at www.seabed2030.org  Brought to you by the Nippon Foundation and GEBCO

Episode 13 is our longest episode to date and features interviews recorded during the 6th Pacific Ocean Mapping Meeting that took place in Fiji in November 2024.  With some 90 participants from 27 nations, the meeting was a rare opportunity for mappers, marine managers, industry representatives and members of Seabed 2030's supporting organisations to meet face to face, and learn first hand from citizens of Pacific island nations about the issues and challenges they face, and why seabed mapping matters so much to them. For this podcast, Steve Hall our Head of Partnerships conducts 4 interviews: Apenisa Cavuilati of the Fiji Hydrographic Service Evert Flier - Chair of the GEBCO (General Bathymetric Chart of the Ocean) Guiding Committee Kyle Goodrich - President and Founder of TCarta Emma Oliver of the Papua New Guinea University of Natural Resources and Environment and ENB Sea Keepers Apenisa gives a welcome to Fiji and gives some background about the meeting; Evert expands on the value of holding the meeting in person and learning from the local community - and describes just how vast the Pacific Ocean is. Kyle gives us an industry perspective, TCarta was one of the original Seabed 2030 industry partners and brings satellite-based observations into the field of ocean mapping, with customers including the UK Hydrographic Office. Lastly, and with the longest interview recorded by Zoom after the Fiji meeting from her home in Papua New Guinea, Steve speaks to Emma about the particular challenges faced by her community, and why ocean mapping and growing the New Blue Economy can provide a better future for the next generation. Please send any questions for the interviewees or feedback on this episode to Steve Hall. Find out more about Seabed 2030 see www.seabed2030.org, and listen out for our next episode early in 2025.  Have a peaceful holiday season, and Merry Christmas to all who celebrate! Revealing Hidden Depths - the Seabed 2030 Podcast Find out more about our project at www.seabed2030.org  Brought to you by the Nippon Foundation and GEBCO

For episode 12 of the Seabed 2030 podcast, Head of Partnerships Steve Hall interviews Denis Hains (see LinkedIn profile) Hydrospatial Global Influencer, President and CEO of H2i.  Denis is a long-standing champion for ocean mapping, having served in a series of international influential roles including as Hydrographer General of Canada & Director General of the Canadian Hydrographic Service. He is a member of the Seabed 2030 Strategic Advisory Group, and although he retired from Canadian government service in 2018, he has remained a prolific & visible contributor to the ocean mapping community with many pro-bono professional advisory activities. Denis was the recipient of the 2024 Sam Masry Award issued by the Canadian Hydrographic Association and is author or co-author of numerous papers and popular technical policy articles. In this interview Denis talks about his career, about why he is passionate in his advocacy for 'Hydrospatial' as a term describing the work of this domain sector. Link here to an article explaining that 'Hydrospatial' is not about replacing 'hydrography', and here to find the LinkedIn Hydrospatial group. Denis goes on to explain why Seabed 2030 matters as a mechanism for delivering the first global map of the ocean, and about the importance and enthusiasm of the next generation of ocean mappers in the Hydrospatial domain, and why education, experience, continuous learning - and most importantly professional networking, are vital for early career professionals to build their career.  Revealing Hidden Depths - the Seabed 2030 Podcast Find out more about our project at www.seabed2030.org  Brought to you by the Nippon Foundation and GEBCO