Beginning in 2007, the Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science at Memorial University initiated SEAformatics, a five-year multidisciplinary R&D project to design, fabricate and validate a proof-of-concept seafloor array of acoustically networked marine sensor platforms for subsea monitoring applications. Each platform in the array ('pod') will harvest power from ocean currents using a small-scale marine turbine to extend deployment beyond systems that rely solely on batteries.

The team is also developing a fibre optic-based ocean bottom seismometer that will be integrated with the 'pod' to perform geological imaging and earthquake monitoring operations. Memorial University's partners in the $4.2 million SEAformatics project include: Rutter Technologies of St. John’s, Dalhousie University, Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency through the Atlantic Innovation Fund, Canada Foundation for Innovation, Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council, and the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador through the Industrial Research and Innovation Fund.