Have you ever wondered about how this world remains connected via the internet? What carries the messages from one corner to the other in a blink of an eye? The answer to this question lies deep into the ocean. Many believed that the global internet was made possible due to the satellites, but this is not true. The data transferring is using fibre optics and is supported by vast underwater cables. How are these cables laid deep into the ocean? The cables are such made that there is no delay during data transfer. After these cables are ready, then they loaded in large ships. The series of conveyer belts or the cable highway pull these cables into a large spool at the base of the ship’s hull before it starts moving forward into the sea. The whole process behind laying a new internet cable into the sea takes more than a month. The ships make its way to the starting location, keeping in mind that it stays close to the land. The cables are floated out to the shore and then buried in the sand using a remotely operated plough as the ship moves forward. Devices such as ROV-6 are brought into use to embed the cables up to 6500 ft or 2000 metres deep. It uses robotic arms and jets to put these cables into the ground and then treads in the device allow traversing the floors of the ocean. This device is controlled right from the ship using small-scale replicas. Can these cables be repaired? Yes, these cables are repairable. Shark bites, dropping of the anchor from the ships or any other factors that lead to damage of these wires. When the damage is detected, specialised equipment is used to grab and pulled up the wire without causing any damage to the rest of the cable. The cable is cut and reconnected again without disrupting the light passing over the fibre optics. On 16th August 1854, a transatlantic telegraph cable was laid, connecting Newfoundland in Canada and Ireland. After the project was complete after four years, but this did not last long. The electricians of the transatlantic telegraph applied excessive voltage to reduce the transmission time, which leads to damage to the cable. A new design cable introduced in 1865 could amplify the speed of the signal, and ever since then, we have travelled a long way when it comes to underwater data transmission. It is like our data is floating in the sea!
