University of Hawaii scientists have established the world’s deepest cabled ocean observatory capable of measuring sea changes about three miles below the water’s surface and sending video and information in sustained real time.

Researcher Bruce Howe, chairman of the university’s Department of Ocean and Resources Engineering, said the Aloha Cabled Observatory, linked by a cable to Makaha, is 70 miles north of Oahu, operating at a depth of 4,730 meters.

The observatory opens a frontier of opportunities for the university in seeking scientific grants, Howe said.

"We’re just beginning. There’s a huge amount we need to do," he said.

Department officials said the sustained, continuous recording of deep-ocean conditions will help scientists better understand ocean acoustics, circulation, chemistry and ecosystem behavior.

Scientists have been measuring changes in the ocean at the site since 1988, initially dropping sensor equipment from ships.

Officials said the observatory’s fiber-optic cable enables scientists to sense changes near the ocean floor in real time, including seismic activity and shifts in temperature. Howe said the equipment has sensed temperature changes near the ocean floor of a few degrees that perhaps might indicate turbulence from a residual lava hot spot.

"We haven’t sensed anything like that before," he said. "This is very preliminary."

He said the acoustic equipment is detecting small quakes that are close to within 50 miles away.

The $3.5 million project, funded by the university and National Science Foundation and installed in June, utilizes a fiber-optic line developed by AT&T in the 1980s of the type that once served as a communications link between Hawaii and California.

Howe said that while scientists still drop equipment from ships to conduct measurements, the Aloha Cabled Observatory has enabled them to learn how to work with remote equipment under great ocean pressure and in conditions where temperatures are 39 degrees Fahrenheit.

Three miles below the surface, under 500 times normal atmospheric pressure, electrical materials and plastic start to deform.

Howe said scientists have developed thick pressure cases and use titanium in the equipment.

Officials said the deployment of the observatory took 18 days and months of preparation, with assistance from the university’s vessel Kilo Moana.

Howe said the university has been conducting measurements of the ocean for the past 23 years and has detected a rise in the acidification of the sea.

He said the measurement is important, especially in the tropics where there are coral reefs susceptible to dissolving under acidification.

Howe said the second-deepest ocean observatory is operated by Japan at a depth of 4,400 meters to act as a seismic warning system.