Remote Underwater Exploration
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) is developing a stream-lined ROV to remove fishing gear, like fishing nets, from historic shipwrecks.
Originally intended to recover larger research robots stuck underwater, the ResQ ROV is being designed as a more cost-effective alternative to divers and to operate in more confined environments than a larger ROV can navigate safely.
Full article at: Scubaverse.com 21aug26
A collaboration between Woodside and Recfishwest with the support of the WA Government, City of Karratha, Traditional Owners, and local fishing clubs, a modular 16,000 m2 artifical reef has successfully installed an artificial reef off the coast of Dampier, Western Australia (WA). THe goal is to create a new habitat to support local fish species and enhance recreational fishing opportunities for the local community.
Full article at: Eco Magazine 12feb26
Researchers spent 160 days collecting seabed samples from the Clarion-Clipperton Zone between Mexico and Hawai’i in the Pacific Ocean, developing a baseline to quantify the impact of deep-sea mining on macrofauma, densities and diversity.
Full article at: Discover Wildlife 12feb26
Appropriately named the Lamprey, a new multi-mission AUV from Lockheed Martin attaches itself to other marine vessels to slip into contested waters for intelligence gathering, surveillance, and reconnaissance, multi-stream data collection, and seabed equipment deployment. It even has a built-in hydrogenerator to recharge its batteries while “hitching a ride”
Full article at: NextGenDefence 10feb26
The “Life in the Extremes” expedition by the Schmidt Ocean Institute with researchers from National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET) and the University of Buenos Aires (UBA) found a new species of phantom jellyfish roughly the size of a school bus at a depth of ~250 meters (830 feet) off the coast of Argentina.
Full article at: Discover Wildlife 04feb26