In this inaugural episode of Surfacing Secrets, Balad’EAU and How to Protect the Ocean team up to tell the origin story of a world-leading ocean observatory network: Ocean Networks Canada (ONC).

Host Lyne Morissette takes us back to the late 1990s, when a group of bold ocean scientists dreamed the impossible—real-time seafloor observatories that could transform how we understand our planet. Through captivating narration and exclusive interview excerpts conducted by Andrew Lewin, we meet the visionary pioneers behind this movement:

• Kate Moran, President & CEO of ONC and ocean engineer with a mission to illuminate the deep;

• John Delaney, oceanographer and early architect of cabled observatories;

• Benoit Pirenne, ONC’s Chief Scientist, who helped turn bold ideas into technical reality.

This episode explores the roots of ONC, the early scientific breakthroughs, and the data-driven legacy that continues to protect communities, support global science, and spark ocean innovation.

🎧 Featuring archival audio, powerful testimony, and a poetic close inspired by T.S. Eliot.

🎙️ A special production by Balad’EAU, in collaboration with How to Protect the Ocean and Ocean Networks Canada.

🔔 Subscribe now and join us every month as we surface secrets from the deep.

📅 Launch date: June 8, 2025 — World Oceans Day
🌐 More info: oceannetworks.ca