In 2018, on land and in space, preparations to deploy millions of antennas were very publicly being made and advertised, for "5G," "Smart Cities," and the "Internet of Things." At the same time, and without any publicity, governments, research laboratories, and commercial and military interests were collaborating on plans to create "Smart Oceans" and the "Internet of Underwater Things" (IoUT). They did not consult the fishes, whales, dolphins, octopuses, and other inhabitants of those depths.

In the United States, the National Science Foundation funded what it called the SEANet Project. The goal was to enable broadband wireless communication from any point on or in the oceans to anywhere else on the planet or in space. The Internet of Underwater Things is being designed to enable all the same communication capabilities that are being provided on land, including "real-time video streaming from underwater."