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 iain@ecosub.uk or sales@ecosub.uk

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