https://doi.org/10.1140/epjc/s10052-026-15319-6
Regular Article - Experimental Physics
Long term study of sedimentation and biofouling at cascadia basin, the site of the pacific ocean neutrino experiment
1
Ocean Networks Canada, University of Victoria, Victoria, BC, Canada
2
Department of Physics and Astronomy, University College London, Gower Street, WC1E 6BT, London, UK
3
Department of Physics, Duke University, 27708, Durham, NC, USA
4
Triangle Universities Nuclear Laboratory, 27708, Durham, NC, USA
5
Physik-Department, Technische Universität München, 85748, Garching, Germany
6
Department of Physics, Simon Fraser University, 8888 University Drive, V5A 1S6, Burnaby, BC, Canada
7
Department of Biology, University of Victoria, V8N 1V8, Victoria, BC, Canada
8
Department of Physics and Astronomy, Michigan State University, 48824, East Lansing, MI, USA
9
Department of Physics, Elmhurst University, 190 S. Propsect Ave, 60126, Elmhurst, IL, USA
10
Erlangen Centre for Astroparticle Physics, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, 91058, Erlangen, Germany
11
Institute of Nuclear Physics, Polish Academy of Sciences, Kraków, Poland
12
Department of Physics, University of Alberta, T6G 2E1, Edmonton, AB, Canada
13
Department of Physics, Drexel University, 3141 Chestnut Street, 19104, Philadelphia, PA, USA
14
Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Victoria, 3800 Finnery Road, V8P 5C2, Victoria, BC, Canada
15
Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, University of Chicago, 5640 South Ellis Avenue, 60637, Chicago, IL, USA
16
Kavli Institute for Cosmological Physics, University of Chicago, 5640 South Ellis Avenue, 60637, Chicago, IL, USA
17
School of Physics and Center for Relativistic Astrophysics, Georgia Institute of Technology, 30332, Atlanta, GA, USA
18
Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Marine Biology, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA, USA
a
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Received:
11
July
2025
Accepted:
14
January
2026
Published online:
23
February
2026
Abstract
STRings for Absorption Length in Water (STRAW)-a and b were pathfinder instruments deployed to characterize the anticipated site of the Pacific Ocean Neutrino Experiment (P-ONE), which is a future neutrino telescope that will be located in the North Pacific Ocean. Measurements of the evolution of the optical transmission efficiency from STRAW-a showed a decline over the detector’s lifetime for the upward-facing modules. Video footage of the pathfinders strongly suggested this decline was caused by biofouling and sedimentation. We measure the effect of biofouling and sedimentation to be a decrease in the transparency of upward-facing optical surfaces over 5 years of operations. A majority of downward-facing optical surfaces, which will dominate P-ONE’s sensitivity to astrophysical sources, showed no visible biofouling. Extrapolations motivated by biological growth models estimated that these losses started around 2.5 years after deployment, and suggest a reduction in transparency ranging from 35
of the original to complete obscuration for the upward-facing modules. Samples of biofouling were taken in order to identify the microbial diversity of these organisms and inform potential intervention strategies. Results of the microbial samples and a candidate anti-biofouling strategy that will be tested on upcoming P-ONE instruments are discussed.
© The Author(s) 2026
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Funded by SCOAP3.
