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Online QC on deck
Data quality is decided while the vessel is still on the line. I’ve run online QC of sidescan sonar on a pipeline route, processed magnetometer and sidescan data aboard, and spent nine years in QC on exploration seismic crews, deciding when lines had to be reshot. Aboard, I also look after the processing computers: there’s no IT department in the middle of the sea. Safety comes first, on every rotation.
- Experience
- 9 years of offshore seismic QC; 8 freelance contracts aboard
- Safety
- NEBOSH IGC with credit; BOSIET with CA-EBS
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Magnetometry for UXO
Unexploded ordnance is a real risk on many North Sea and Baltic sites, and the magnetometer is how you find it. I process magnetic data in Oasis montaj: QC, filtering, gridding, target picking and anomaly reporting, aboard or from home.
- Software
- Oasis montaj
- Contracts
- 9, of which 7 for UXO
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Sidescan sonar
Boulders, debris, wrecks, cables and bedforms: sidescan sonar shows what’s lying on the seabed. I process, mosaic and interpret it in SonarWiz, from online QC on a gas pipeline route to contact picking for wind farm sites.
- Software
- SonarWiz
- Contracts
- 11
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Sub-bottom and high-resolution seismic
Pingers, parametric echo sounders such as Innomar, chirps, boomers and sparkers. I process high-resolution seismic in RadExPro, where I built one company’s template project and processing sequence from scratch, and interpret it in Kingdom.
- Software
- RadExPro, IHS Kingdom, ProMAX
- Sources
- Pinger, parametric, chirp, boomer, sparker
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GIS and charting
Every survey ends up as layers: bathymetry from the survey team’s multibeam, sidescan mosaics and contacts, magnetic targets, sub-bottom horizons and the route itself. I bring them together in QGIS and ArcGIS Pro, interpret them side by side and get them ready for charts and client deliverables.
- Software
- QGIS, ArcGIS Pro, ArcMap, Global Mapper
- Projects
- Pipeline, cable and wind farm charting, remote
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Interpretation and reporting
From reflectors to geological units: picking horizons, correlating vibrocores and samples, mapping hazards, and writing the reports that cable routes and foundations are designed from.
- Experience
- Geological interpretation, vibrocore analysis, survey reports
- Quality
- Set up ISO-controlled technical procedures from scratch
Jesse Cannon freelance marine geophysicist
Deep knowledge of the sea
Safe harbour for your data
Specialist in site characterisation surveys using magnetometry, sidescan sonar and seismic methods. Handles all stages: mobilisation, acquisition, processing, interpretation and reporting. Available for work aboard your vessel, in your site office or remotely from a high-tech home office.
Taking on contracts: offshore, site office or remote
Where the name comes from
Look up from below the surface and the whole sky squeezes into one bright circle: Snell’s window. Its rim is the critical angle of water, 48.6°. Beyond it, light can’t get out and the surface becomes a mirror. Under the seabed, the same physics bends sound along buried layers. That’s the world I map, and the name of my company.
Where the name comes from
Look up from below the surface and the whole sky squeezes into one bright circle: Snell’s window. Its rim is the critical angle of water, 48.6°. Beyond it, light can’t get out and the surface becomes a mirror. Under the seabed, the same physics bends sound along buried layers. That’s the world I map, and the name of my company.
Eleven years at sea, twenty on the data
I’m Jesse Cannon, a British-Australian marine geophysicist and the founder of Critical Angle. I started offshore on exploration seismic crews for oil majors including ExxonMobil, BP, Chevron and Shell, and rose to Chief QC Geophysicist on 3D ocean-bottom cable surveys. In 2014 I moved into near-surface geophysics: the seabed and shallow geology under wind farms, cables, pipelines and carbon stores.
Since 2016 I’ve freelanced on eighteen contracts: eight aboard survey vessels, two in site offices and eight from my home office. The work is the same wherever I sit, and I’m glad to do it in any of the three, in any sea. Clients have always reviewed my work positively, and I intend to keep it that way: thorough, data-driven and honest about what the data can and can’t tell you.
Particulars
- Name
- Jesse Cannon
- Flag
- British and Australian
- Operator
- Critical Angle SLU, Spain
- Type
- Marine geophysicist: magnetics, sidescan sonar and seismic
- Trading area
- Worldwide: offshore, in site offices or remote
- In service
- Since 2006
- Sea time
- Eleven years
- Languages
- English (native), Spanish (B1, working towards B2)
- Freelance record
- 18 contracts since 2016: 8 aboard, 2 in site offices, 8 remote
- Oil and gas clients
- ExxonMobil, BP, Chevron and Shell, among others
- Certificates
- BOSIET with CA-EBS to July 2030, OEUK medical to June 2028, NEBOSH IGC
What I bring to a site survey
Six steps from deck to deliverable. The data on screen is simulated, but it’s the kind I process and interpret every day.
Aboard, ashore or at home
Processing and interpretation are the same work wherever I sit; only the view changes. My last eight contracts, for Fugro and GeoXYZ, were delivered from my home office.
The office is set up for production geophysics: a high-spec computer, backup power, 1 Gbps symmetrical internet and three screens. I work in your software, to your procedures and reporting templates, with the same QC discipline I bring aboard. When a job needs someone on deck or in a site office, in Europe or further afield, I’m just as ready to go, and my offshore certificates are current.
- Workstation
- High-spec computer, triple-screen display
- Power
- Backup power supply
- Connection
- 1 Gbps symmetrical internet
- Data security
- Cybersecurity bootcamp, Ironhack, 2026
- Remote record
- 8 contracts, 2021 to 2025
Freelance weeks per year, by where the work was done
Site characterisation contracts, 2016 to 2025
- Aboard a vessel
- Site office
- Remote
Show as a table
Seas off five continents
Nine years on exploration seismic crews took me to sea off five continents, from Brazil and Trinidad to Nigeria, Saudi Arabia and the Caspian. Since 2016 I’ve freelanced on eighteen site survey contracts across North-West Europe, for survey contractors including Fugro, GeoXYZ, MMT and NSEA, on projects such as Arkona, Borssele, Neart na Gaoithe, Saint-Brieuc, East Anglia THREE, NordLink and the Northern Endurance Partnership.
Freelance site surveys since 2016
- Offshore wind farms10
- Power cables6
- Gas pipelines2
- Offshore switching station1
- Fibre-optic cable system1
- Carbon capture and storage1
The software I work in
| Software | Used for | Experience |
|---|---|---|
| SonarWiz | Sidescan sonar processing, mosaics and contact picking | 11 contracts |
| Oasis montaj | Magnetic data processing and UXO target picking | 9 contracts, 7 for UXO |
| IHS Kingdom | Seismic and sub-bottom interpretation | 4 freelance contracts, plus EGS International, 2014 to 2015 |
| RadExPro | High-resolution seismic processing | Built a full template project and processing sequence |
| ProMAX | Exploration seismic processing and QC | 6 years offshore |
| QGIS, ArcGIS Pro | Combining survey layers, charting and client deliverables | Highly experienced |
| ArcMap, Global Mapper, Workbench | GIS, data review and charting | Experienced: used on several contracts each |
Tell me about your survey
Whether you need someone aboard next month or a remote processor for a backlog of sidescan, send a few details and I’ll get back to you.
- Phone and WhatsApp
- +34 614 613 164Message on WhatsApp
- UK phone
- +44 7537 176071
- Company
- Critical Angle SLU