Marine experts across the world are working together to create a global catalog of sounds of underwater life, to monitor the changing environment and inform marine conservation. The open-access Global Library of Underwater Biological Sounds (GLUBS) will use artificial intelligence (AI) and citizen science to capture signature sounds from mammals like whales, as well as invertebrates, fish and crustaceans.
Red Morwong
These striking fish, gracefully suspended in the blue waters off the NSW coast, are Red Morwong. We were pleasantly surprised to see this calm and colourful school, and that our ROV was close enough to illuminate the eye-catching patterns across their faces.
Green Moray Eel
This resident Green Moray Eel greeted our ROV on a dive in Batemans Bay, NSW not long ago. Green Moray Eels are just one of more than 160 different species of Moray Eel around the world. Believe it or not, this green eel is not actually green – it is brown in colour. The bright yellow or green colour we see is due to a mucus that covers its body to protect it from parasites and injury from the rough surroundings of reefs and shorelines in which it lives. Maybe it should be known as Slimy Green Moray Eel?
Beauty of Hawaiian Urchins
Found this article in Hawaiian Airline’s current Hana Hou! Magazine and thought the images were surprisingly stunning. We don’t usually see beauty in sea urchins when we are lamenting the devastation resulting in urchin barrens…
PDF available here and keep an eye out for an online version at: Hawaiianairlines.com/hawaii-stories/hana-hou
ROV images of hydrothermal vents
MBARI researchers used ROV Subastian to capture stunning images of life around hydrothermal vents, including calcite spires, hydrothermal mirror pools and iridescent scale worms living in temperatures approaching 287 Celsius (549 Fahrenheit).
Their 33-day long expedition focused on mapping the seafloor, exploring tectonic processes, measuring heat flow, and sampling microbes.
Full article at: Smithsonian Magazine 22nov21