On the 21st and 22nd of January 2025 the University of Southampton completed a two-day course on “Seafloor Exploration and Characterisation for Infrastructure, Heritage and Marine Planning”. Exploration and characterisation of the seafloor is essential for the design of offshore infrastructure, the protection of seafloor heritage and ecosystems, and to guide marine spatial planning. Ocean activities linked to energy, food and mineral production and communication networks are all influenced by seafloor conditions. Meanwhile, the seafloor hosts fragile heritage and ecosystems. In this context, sustainable management of the ocean requires reliable characterisation of the seafloor.

The two-day course provided a broad introduction to the technologies and best practices in seafloor characterisation, set in the context of applications linked to infrastructure, heritage and ecosystems.

The course was highly interdisciplinary, with content linked to geosciences, engineering and maritime archaeology. The course was suitable for both non-specialists and specialists with existing expertise.

The course activities included informal lectures and hands-on practical activities. Some of these activities were computer-based, and some use virtual and augmented reality to bring the seafloor to the classroom.  We gained skills in the analysis techniques, and worked with real data from offshore sites.