Technology Partner
For Tēnaka, measuring its positive impact is the cornerstone of their model.
Tēnaka Science is the online portal Tēnaka uses to share monthly data on the evolution of the coral ecosystems they restore, namely in terms of marine biodiversity.
Currently, to collect this data, Tēnaka’s field marine biologists need to dive in the restored areas and go through a visual identification and quantification of fish (butterfly fish, parrotfish…), invertebrates (giant clam, sea urchins…) and mega-fauna (sharks, turtles, rays).
Once they return to land, the data is loaded manually into the Tēnaka Science portal.
This is where the partnership with Orange Business comes into play.
Orange Business collaborates with an ecosystem of partners to develop a technology solution that automates and scales coral reefs and marine biodiversity monitoring.
The solution provides access to fully automated data sets, from collection to visualization, leveraging AI-based data analysis.
This data-driven approach increases the knowledge around restored coral ecosystems as well as enhances the capabilities of Tēnaka’s operations.
Data and images of the coral ecosystems are delivered directly to Tenaka’s partners ashore, allowing marine biologist to spend less time collecting data while diving in the coral reefs and more time restoring them.
Automation of the scientific monitoring of coral reefs
The project orchestrated by Orange Business is enabled by Yucca lab-created Station 16.1546.
This station is composed of two modules: an underwater monitoring device with waterproof 360° cameras and a 20-day autonomy battery, and an induction charging and transmission module, used to charge the station once it’s removed from the water and to transmit the pictures to a secured cloud through 4G connectivity.
In order to permanently monitor a specific coral reef area, two stations can rotate: while one station takes pictures, the other station charges.
Once the station is connected to the charging and transmission module, it connects to the local 4G mobile network with an Orange Business SIM card. This connection transfers the images to a Microsoft Azure tenant managed by Orange Business. The data transfer is secured by Orange Cyberdefense using Netskope SSE technology and NewEdge infrastructure.
This is a perfect example where Orange’s Evolution Platform, combining the 3 “Cs”: Connectivity, Cloud and Cybersecurity, enables a digitalization use case.
Once in the cloud, an AI algorithm developed by Orange Business analyzes the images. This algorithm automatically recognizes and quantifies 17 species of fish, invertebrates, and megafauna in the reefs.
Project roadmap
Orange Business leverages its partner ecosystem in this project: Netskope’s For Good program is providing the security platform and design, while Microsoft provides free of charge Azure credits as part of its Startups Founders Hub program.
The Let’s revive project started in June 2023. After one year of development and testing, an MVP1 version of Station 16.1546 was successfully tested in Malaysia in September 2024.
Following a second round of development with new requirements, an MVP2 version was installed in Malaysia in May 2025, and will remain collecting data until September 2025, when the monsoon starts.
What is next?
The experience of the 2025 6-month installation in Malaysia will certainly feed a new round of optimizations of Station 16.1546.
In parallel, the project has drawn a lot of interest from media, researchers, and public institutions in different parts of the world.
Tenaka is applying to several call for projects around coral preservation and research with Station 16.1546.
We are convinced this technology can revolutionize the knowledge mankind has on coral reefs and marine biodiversity, and hope it’ll be a game changer on protecting the ocean !
Stay tuned for more news!
