Redundant Cold War technology used to spy on submarines could be put to a new use in Bermuda -- whale watching and ocean research.

Lying on the ocean bed around the Island is a network of highly sensitive microphones capable of detecting noises more than 1,000 miles away.

Now a former US Navy officer has teamed up with the Bermuda Biological Station to re-activate the network -- shut down and left by the US when its military left Bermuda a year ago.

Duane A. Cox has raised enough funds to re-open the system and along with the Bio Station is negotiating final details with the Navy.

"There is a lot of research that needs to be done by scientists and Bermuda is perfect because it is such a good listening post,'' he said.

During the Cold War the US Government spent $16 billion on a global network of hidden sea-bed microphones to spy on ships and submarines.

Known as Sosus, for Sound Surveillance System, they are now being used less and less by the military, although there is mounting concern about new long-range and quieter Russian submarines.

The microphones are so sensitive that they have tracked the movement of a whale for more than 2,000 miles as it migrated past Bermuda.

Now scientists are being given access to many of the networks and it is hoped the Bermuda system could be re-opened this fall -- at a cost of $3 million.

It is thought there are about 100 microphones in the system around Bermuda and to avoid security issues a plan is being drawn up to filter out the sounds of submarines -- so it cannot be used to spy on US ships and submarines.

Dr. Tony Knap, director of the Bio Station, revealed that talks with the Navy have been underway for two years, but were kept quiet for security reasons.

"We have been working with people in Washington ever since the Navy announced it was leaving Bermuda. Because of security reasons we have played the whole thing low key,'' said Dr. Knap.

"The first thoughts about this were to cut the cables. We have been working to ensure that did not happen.

"The possibilities of this system are tremendous. Because this system is so sophisticated we can hear so many things. It is amazing what you can do with sound.'' In the past, less sophisticated technology has been used by the Bio Station to measure the ocean's temperatures by making a sound in the Antarctic and picking it up in Bermuda. Sound travels quicker through warmer water.

Dr. Knap added that if the project goes ahead it will mean expanding the Bio Station's work, turning it into a world-recognised centre for ocean research.

It will also have implications for business -- possibly helping to predict earthquakes and shifts in weather patterns.

But the system can also be used to help oceonagraphic mapping, can listen to underground volcanoes and could lead to new understandings of the deep as well as find new ways to save oceans from ecological harm.

The network is linked to the old Tudor Hill base and once it is re-opened information will be sent to Virginia and then disseminated to scientists around the world.

Governments might also be given access to the information as they strive to conserve fish stocks.

"Talks about re-activating the system are moving faster than we would ever have hoped. This is a tremendous opportunity for Bermuda,'' added Dr. Knap.

Mr. Cox, president of the Virginia-based Scientific Environmental Research Foundation a non-profit making organisation, worked on Sosus for 16 years.

"There's an awful lot to be learned,'' he said. "The whole system is still there and Bermuda has possibly some of the largest whale migrations with creatures such as Blue Whales and Humpbacks. It can even be used to help ships avoid colliding with whales.'' Only a small part of the existing buildings at Tudor Hill will be needed -- but around $3.5 million a year will be necessary to run the entire operation.

"This system can listen to things a thousand miles away. It can go as far as Puerto Rico and Newfoundland,'' added Mr. Cox.

"We have the money to hook the system up again, but we will need more money as time goes on to operate the project.

"We are trying to get authority from the Navy, which still owns the system, and we have to get through the final hurdles of putting things in place like the infrastructure, but hopefully it could be ready by the fall.''