MTS Puget Sound Section - Ocean Surveying: Past, Present and Hints of the Future - a presentation by Paul Jubinski

Join the MTS Puget Sound Section's next meeting for a presentation on ocean surveying by MTS Life member Paul Jubinski.

In February of 2026, Paul Jubinski was in port in Apra Harbor, Guam, on board the University of Hawaii’s R/V Kilo Moana, engaged in a deep-water mapping project. Fifty years before, in February of 1976, he was in the same port, on board the University of Hawaii’s R/V Kana Keoki, also engaged in a deep-water mapping project.  The motivation is unchanged - learning more about what lies at the bottom of the ocean, but a new generation of ships and personnel are now engaged in pursuing that goal.  And at their disposal are technologies and techniques that were unimaginable 50 years ago. A survey operation used to be considered successful if it returned home with sparse data sets, boxes containing rolls of chart paper for post-cruise processing. Paul will show how this has evolved into a sea-going data factory that collects data sets with orders of magnitude greater density, processes them in near real-time and presents mapping data in essentially final form for on-board interpretation and action. What will the future bring? Paul sees a clear trend in decreasing the number of on-board personnel required for deep-water survey operations and will present one example with no onboard personnel. 

Dinner provided. Free for students, $15 for MTS members, $25 for non-members.

Date: May 21, 2026, Thursday
Time: 05:30 - 7:00 PM PT
Location: UW Ocean Sciences Building

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