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VANCOUVER, July 3 (Xinhua) -- The world's largest and most advanced underwater observatory project was launched Friday in a ceremony at Canadian Forces Base Esquimalt in the western Pacific province British Columbia

The 100-million-dollar Neptune Canada project will make it possible for life beneath the ocean to go live on the Internet, giving people an unprecedented experience

The underwater observatory is consisted of five 13-tonne module-like structures, which will be lowered down to the sea floor off the west coast of Vancouver Island, where they will be connected to 800 kilometers of fibre-optic cable winding its way over the sea floor.

The modules contains hundreds of observation instruments that will send real-time data and allow researchers around the world to conduct deep-sea experiments. At depths of up to 2.6 kilometers, the module-like nodes will supply power and two-way communications.

Neptune Canada data is expected to start flowing in late 2009.