The Underwater Cloud

97% of the world’s data travels under the sea.

Out world seems to be getting smaller day by day. We can communicate with someone on the other side of the world in a matter of milliseconds. This data transfer is made possible not through air, satellite, etc. but undersea fiber-optic cables. In fact, these cables are responsible for 97% of the world’s data traffic and are the backbone of our global internet. How did these cables get there and how far do they span?

The submarine cable laying process starts from a landing station, where a long cable section is attached to the landing point and then extended out to a few miles in the sea. This end is connected to the cable on the ship and then the ship starts its cable laying process. The cable is not simply left to sit on the ocean bed, but rather is fed into a plough, which then lays the cable into a trench. Depending on where the cable is laid out, the cable coming in from the ocean to the landing station might be advertised or not. Most of the time cable consortium companies try to hide the cable as much as they can, so that only those who need to know — municipalities, port authorities and shipping companies — are informed of the exact route of the cable. When cables are damaged, either divers or specialized small submersibles with cameras and lights are sent down to the seabed to investigate where the cuts are. Then, either the divers or robotic arms on the submersible bring the two ends of the cable to the surface, where they are re-spliced and joined again.

Why do we continue to use undersea fiber-optic cables? Laying down all those cables beneath the ocean sounds difficult and expensive. While true, the benefits of these cables are well worth the cost. Fiber optics are much faster than cable, satellite, etc. We’ve been spoiled to expect lightning-fast internet and fiber-optics are the reason why. Also, these cables have been in use for so long and by using a method that is old, it has been more efficient to build on and improve what is already there. While technological advancements may eventually render these undersea cables obsolete, the underwater cloud continues to allow for the global flow of information that we love and enjoy.

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