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Laying the Internet's Deep-Sea Cables
When we watch a video or send a message to another continent, we often assume satellites handle the communication. However, what carries ninety-nine percent of international data is actually a vast network of submarine cables. It is these physical lines resting on the ocean floor that make the modern internet possible.
Laying these cables is a monumental engineering task. Specialised ships cross the oceans slowly, unspooling fibre-optic lines. The reason why the process takes months is the extreme care required to avoid undersea mountains and deep trenches. It was an expedition in 1858 that laid the first transatlantic telegraph cable, but today's optical fibres carry terabytes of data per second.
Maintenance is equally challenging. The thing that damages most cables is not sharks or pressure, but human activity. It is fishing trawlers and ship anchors that cause the majority of breaks in shallow waters.