Category: Education

Interesting marine and robotic educational facts

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Casper octopus, flying spaghetti monster, and many more found by ROV SuBastian at newly discovered seamount off the coast of Chile

Still from the first footage of a live Promachoteuthis squid that had previously been characterized only from dead samples found in nets. The squid was documented on Dive 693, while exploring an unnamed seamount (internally designated as T06) along the Nazca Ridge, off the coast of Chile.
This rare octopus species—dubbed the Casper octopus— had not previously been seen in the Southern Pacific. Dive 690, a full-depth test dive of ROV SuBastian. CREDIT:  ROV SuBastian / Schmidt Ocean Institute
Flying spaghetti monster, Bathyphysa conifera, seen on Dive 692 while the research team was surveying an unnamed and unexplored seamount off the coast of Chile. CREDIT: ROV SuBastian/Schmidt Ocean Institute.

Full article at: Popular Science 28aug24

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2025 MATE ROV World Championship is happening this June!

ROVs are being tested and tweaked this week in preparation for the 2025 MATE ROV Competition World Championships, happening in Alpena, Michigan USA.

Teams will compete in varying ROV challenge categories: Explorer, Pioneer and Ranger starting on Thursday June 19th 2025 (vehicle inspections starting 17th of June)

Livestreams of the events can be seen online at: Twitch.TV MATEinspires1

And we would like to offer huge congratulations to the Riptide ROV team from Korowa Anglican Girls’ School in VIC! They are the first Australian team to compete at a MATE World Championship.

More information at: MATE ROV Competition

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MBARI’s mystery mollusc is finally identified after 20 years of research

Researchers from the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI) have a new species of sea slug called Bathydevius Caudactylus, a.k.a the mystery mollusc. The nudibranch is about the size of an apple and found between depths of 1000-4000 meters.

Some if its unique features include bioluminescence, using a “hood” to trap its food, and its unusual physical appearance, with a hood on one end and flat tail with finger-like projections on the other.

Full article at: News18.com 03dec24

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First-ever footage of colossal squid captured by ROV SuBastian

Previously described only from specimens found in whale and seabird stomachs, Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni, the highly elusive colossal squid, has been positively identified from footage captured by international team of researchers using the Schmidt Ocean Institute’s ROV SuBastian. . At a depth of 1,968 feet in the South Atlantic Ocean near the South Sandwich Islands, SuBastian spotted this baby squid swimming gracefully through the cold, dark water:

Full article at: ExtremeTech 17apr25