An Spidéal, Galway – The Marine Institute and BlueWise Marine are proud to present the SmartBay Observatory and SmartBay Virtual Tour as part of this year’s European Maritime Day event In My Country taking place in Spiddal at Stiúideo Cuan on 20th May 2022. 

This event will provide a unique opportunity to see first-hand, the SmartBay Observatory and sensors that are usually on the seabed off the Spiddal coast, meet the team, and experience an interactive Virtual Tour of the SmartBay facilities. 

The SmartBay Observatory has been undergoing maintenance and upgrades in recent months and is soon to be redeployed to its location 1.5km off the coast of An Spidéal in a depth of 20meters.  This is a rare occasion to showcase the Observatory infrastructure on land and presents a unique and fascinating opportunity to learn and discover more about how we monitor the ocean.

The SmartBay Virtual Tour will also be launched, allowing users to navigate around a full 360° tour of the SmartBay facilities.  The tour features incredible panoramic views of Galway Bay, from the Marine Institute HQ in Rinville to the Shore Station in An Spidéal and takes the viewer on a remarkable sub-sea virtual experience of the Observatory itself.

Throughout the day, students from local schools, Coláiste Chroí Mhuire gan Smal and Coláiste Cholmcille will have the first hand opportunity to learn more about the SmartBay Observatory with informative talks from the Marine Institute and the SmartBay Community Liaison Coordinator from BlueWise Marine.

“We are very excited to have this opportunity to showcase the SmartBay Observatory within An Spidéal community and are looking forward to engaging discussions with the local students about marine observations and the supporting technology before the observatory is redeployed offshore,” said Alan Berry, Section Manager of Marine Research Infrastructures at the Marine Institute. 

Once back in the water the SmartBay Observatory will continue to monitor and transmit live data continuously.  The freely available online data is vital in monitoring the marine environment and contributing to national and international oceanographic monitoring programmes. The SmartBay Observatory is part of Ireland’s national marine research facilities and is Ireland’s observation facility in the European Multidisciplinary Seafloor Observatory (EMSO) research infrastructure.

The Observatory hosts two cameras streaming live video footage from 20 meters depth and are available to view via www.smartbay.ie where the Virtual Tour can also be accessed.

For more information and to register your interest please email: info@smartbay.ie