Remote Underwater Exploration
Northern Territory Ministers Manison and Kirby published a media release yesterday about underwater drones (also known as Remotely Operated Vehicles or ROVs) protecting fish and marine life from harmful aquatic pests and invasive species. Initial ROV inspections were conducted in Cullen Bay, with further biosecurity assessments in Darwin Harbour scheduled for next month.
Full article at: Northern Territory Government Newsroom 11nov21
We love hearing about custom ROV builds and their backstories. Here is an interesting one:
Student Christian Engler teamed up with friends to build a custom ROV to compete in the 2019 International ROV MATE Competition. Their design then attracted the attention of Swiss Explosive Ordnance Disposal divers and lead to further refinement and development, producing the commercial Proteus ROV.
Full article at: Robohub: From Garage to Swiss Lakes
We are so excited to see two of our suppliers partnering together! The Fifish V6 Expert, Pro/Plus and W6 ROV models will now be equipped as standard with the Water Linked A50 Doppler Velocity Log (DVL).
Full article at: MarineTechnologyNews 26oct21
UnderseaROV has teamed up with AUSI to explore microscopic underwater habitats in the SEA Lab. We are still learning a lot about this minuscule cosmos (there is sooo much to see in each water droplet) and spotted a mystery marine organism on a piece of seagrass that we hope someone out there can help us identify. This creature looks to be part hydra, part ciliate, part cnidarian (jellyfish family)? We have yet to find any nomenclature that fits. Help?
[Update] Huge thank you to our friends Jen Z, Bruno and others connected with the University of Washington’s Friday Harbor Labs, who identified this creature as a bryozoan, specifically from the genus Amathia (formerly known as Bowerbankia, kind of like the Artist Formerly Known as Prince). We so appreciate your help!!
The Schmidt Ocean Institute scientists, using the ROV SuBastian, came across this rarely-seen, otherworldly squid in 2019. This genus, Planctoteuthis, inhabits ocean depths of up to 4,000 meters (13,123 feet) down, almost entirely beyond the reach of the Sun’s rays.
This stunning and delicate genus of squid is largely known from samples hauled up from the depths, and damaged in the process. We’ve only seen Planctoteuthis alive in its natural habitat very rarely, so there’s a lot we don’t know.
For example, scientists have found in the samples features usually only seen in juvenile squids. This suggests that the genus might be neotenic, or slow to mature. We also don’t know the reason for the long, elaborate tails.
However, when a creature doesn’t look like its species, there’s a good bet that it looks like something else. This is called mimicry, and in the animal kingdom it often confers an advantage for avoiding predators. This specific Planctoteuthis is thought to resemble a siphonophore, a composite animal that possesses stinging cells, and flashes light to attract prey.
Planctoteuthis could be hijacking the appearance of a siphonophore to try and attract similar prey, but also to repel the predators that would normally be wary of being stung by a siphonophore.
Full article at: Science Alert 07oct21