Remote Underwater Exploration
Interesting marine and robotic educational facts
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
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
MBARI’s ROV Ventana spotted this very rare barreleye fish (Macropinna microstoma) last week, with a see-through head!
MBARI’s ROV was cruising at a depth of ~2,132 feet (650 meters) in the Monterey Submarine Canyon, one of the deepest submarine canyons on the Pacific coast.
The barreleye has two eyes that glow bright green in the ROV lights and a clear, fluid-filled shield that covers its head. The eyes are incredibly light-sensitive and can be oriented straight up, towards the top of the fish’s head, or straight ahead, according to MBARI. Two dark-colored capsules sit in front of the fish’s eyes and contain the organs the animal uses to smell.
Full articles at: MBARI and Live Science 09dec21
A rare creature to see, a bigfin squid was spotted about 2 weeks ago during Dive 10 of the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA)’s Windows to the Deep 2021 ROV and mapping expedition off the West Florida Escarpment in the Gulf of Mexico. (Video below)
Bigfin squid are widely distributed throughout the world’s deep ocean, and they can live deeper than any other known squid. The current depth record for a bigfin squid is 4,735 meters (3 miles) and the largest known bigfin squid was 6.4 meters (21 feet) long with arms and tentacles 6.1 meters (20 feet) long. Imagine arms 20 times the length of your body!
Full article at: Oceanexplorer.noaa.gov 12nov21
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