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Sea Slug Found in Mariana Trench

The ROV named Discovery aboard China’s research vessel KEXUE (Science) has been exploring the western Pacific Ocean and Mariana Trench. Discovery collected more than 60 samples of coral, sponges, shrimp and two rare sea slugs at a depth of 970m. Sea slugs are hardly seen in deep-water (>200 meters) so this find is very unusual.

Full article at Ecns.cn 29may19

Photos from News.cn

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Accidentally Discovered Shipwreck in Gulf of Mexico

In mid-May, researchers aboard the NOAA vessel Okeanos Explorer “accidentally” discovered a 19th century wooden shipwreck in the Gulf of Mexico during a training and equipment test trip. Awesome accident!

Full article at: Geek.com 29may19

Exploration At Its Finest: May 16, 2019

On May 12, NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer set sail for a shakedown and sea-trial expedition in the Gulf of Mexico. On May 16, while conducting an "engineering dive" to test new remotely operated vehicle equipment, the team made an unexpected – and exciting – discovery: the wreck of what is likely a mid-19th century wooden sailing vessel. Thanks to telepresence technology, we were able to quickly assemble a team of archaeologists to virtually participate in the remainder of the dive and make some initial observations of the wreck: https://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/okeanos/explorations/ex1902/welcome.html.This exciting find, and the fact that we basically randomly "stumbled" upon a wreck, further illustrates just how little we know about what lies on the seafloor.

Posted by NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration and Research on Tuesday, May 28, 2019
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Aerial Drone Delivery Service in Canberra

Dominos Pizza announced this delivery service concept back in 2016 and it is very interesting to see how it has progressed. Trials have been conducted in northern Canberra for over a year now and final approval was recently issued for this world-first drone delivery service. Cool robotics!

Full article at: ABC News 09apr19

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ROV for NZ Marine Biosecurity

New Zealand’s National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA) is pioneering the use of ROVs for surveillance in high-risk locations (where there are high volumes of international vessel arrivals) for marine pest incursions. The ROVs are particularly useful where there is a risk of large predators, like leopard seals, sea lions and sharks, presenting dangers to divers.

Full article at: NIWA ROV for marine biosecurity

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ROVs for Marine Research

ROVs have been used to conduct marine research for years now. Some excellent examples include: