LINEUP OCEAN in Nausicaá’s big tank
A dive into the big tank for LINEUP OCEAN, a startup incubated at Nausicaá’s Blue Living Lab!
- 3mn read
The startup’s team based in Montpellier and currently incubating at the Blue Living Lab were at Nausicaá on the 1st and 2nd February 2024 to monitor the installation of their two test modules in the big tank.
These modules made using 3D printing are at the heart of LINEUP OCEAN’s innovation which proposes nature-based solutions for combating coastal erosion.
Unlike the conventional structures such as groyns, dykes and breakwaters that can be found along the coastline, the structures imagined by the startup are immersed to break the force of the waves while offering habitats for the local marine species.
Inspired by the natural rocky bottoms, these patented structures offer living spaces for fish species, thus promoting the development of a greater marine biodiversity. 3D-printed using eco-responsible low-carbon concrete, they are designed to fit harmoniously into the marine environment.
So, the goal is twofold: proposing solutions to combat the effects of climate change on the coast and preserving marine ecosystems by promoting the development of marine biodiversity around these structures.
Full-scale test in Nausicaá’s big tank
Nausicaá’s big tank was chosen as the test site for these innovative modules. This unusual operation required five divers who, using lifting balloons, were able to gently deposit these two one-cubic metre structures.
These two prototypes, each weighing 1.2 tonne, will remain immersed for a year, the time needed to see how the tank’s population behaves and integrates them in their environment.
Nausicaá’s keeper-divers will dive regularly in the tank to film the structures and record how their colonisation is progressing.
The Lineup Ocean team also allows the public to enter into its scientific universe thanks to the installation of an interactive tablet on which the visitors to Nausicaá can identify the fish swimming around and inside the structure and observe their behaviour.
The data collected during this test period will be of great importance for LINEUP OCEAN, as they will make it possible to improve the design of its structures with a view to their future deployment in a variety of natural settings, such as in the Channel, the Mediterranean and the Atlantic.
LINEUP OCEAN
LINEUP OCEAN incubated at the Blue Living Lab and also received the Tremplin de l'Économie Bleue (Blue Economy Springboard) award sponsored by the Nausicaá Endowment Fund in 2023.