Photo by Phill Brown
A team of 26 scientists drawn from eleven government bodies is currently mapping the seabed off Britain’s south-west coast in what has been described as the most ambitious collaborative survey of its kind ever undertaken in the UK.
The four-week mission, designated CSM2026, is being carried out aboard the research vessel Cefas Endeavour under the auspices of the UK Centre for Seabed Mapping (UKCSM), a consortium of more than 30 public sector organisations established in 2022 and administered by the UK Hydrographic Office. The survey began in Lowestoft, Suffolk on 20 April and is due to conclude in Falmouth, Cornwall on 19 May.
A ‘collect once, use many times’ approach
The survey is collecting hydrographic, geological and environmental data across the south-west seabed, with applications spanning offshore energy and infrastructure, marine ecosystem science, safety at sea, marine policy and national security. Funding has been provided by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency through the Civil Hydrography Programme, by Cefas through its Marine Protected Areas programme, and by additional support from Defra’s Marine and Fisheries Research & Development Fund.
Andrew Colenutt, chair of the project team and Head of Hydrography and Meteorology at the MCA, said the scale of the collaboration was unprecedented: “This is the first time that such a large-scale, multi-agency, collaborative survey has been undertaken in the UK and it’s a really exciting venture.” He added that the datasets being collected are “increasingly underpinning the maritime economy and energy security, enabling sustainable management of marine resources, development of marine policies and planning.”
Alison Pettafor, Overseas Territories Country Lead at Cefas and co-chair of the project team, said the project represents the most ambitious collaborative survey yet undertaken on the Cefas Endeavour. “It clearly demonstrates the benefits of a ‘collect once, use many times’ approach, combining expertise, sharing data openly and building a clearer picture of our marine environment to support better decisions for the future. It could mark the beginning of a new era in how we map and understand our seabed.”
Security and policy dimensions
The involvement of the Royal Navy alongside civilian agencies underlines the survey’s national security dimension. Rear Admiral Angus Essenhigh OBE, UK National Hydrographer and Director of Data Acquisition at the UKHO, who chairs the UKCSM Steering Committee, said the collaboration demonstrated what the public sector could achieve when “expertise, capability and purpose are aligned.” He continued: “High-quality seabed mapping underpins everything from safety at sea and environmental protection to sustainable development and supporting national security. Working together through the UK CSM allows us to maximise the value of data, share knowledge, and deliver insights that no single organisation could achieve alone.”
Marine Minister Emma Hardy linked the survey to the government’s broader marine protection commitments, noting that the UK’s network of 374 Marine Protected Areas now covers more than 38 per cent of UK waters. “This survey is an excellent example of our work in partnership to improve our understanding of our maritime estate, providing data to deliver our commitments and make advances in how our seabed is mapped, understood and managed,” she said.
Of particular significance to geoscientists, the survey includes the collection of sub-bottom profiler data, technology that captures subsurface geological information, which the British Geological Survey has long advocated acquiring on hydrographic surveys to inform the siting and design of offshore infrastructure such as wind installations, as well as marine archaeology and coastal erosion management.