Topic
Marine Technology
ROV Dives; Designing the Future 2
The ocean’s midwater is considered to be the largest habitable space for life on earth, yet it is also one of the most minimally explored marine environments. Collecting specimens in this region is incredibly challenging, as many open ocean species are quick, fragile, and small. Keeping a midwater animal alive for study at the surface is a difficult task due to changes in pressure or damage that may occur during collection. In spite of the challenges, species sampling from the midwater is necessary for helping scientists obtain all kinds of information. Understanding the diet, life span, reproduction, and growth of an animal can only be determined with a live specimen. Obtaining this knowledge can help assess the risk of extinction and provide a baseline on the health of the ecosystem, especially in very remote regions of the ocean that are challenging for people to access. Understanding the baseline health of the midwater environment is especially important for discussions on international policy, management, and stewardship of the high seas– regions of the ocean that do not fall under any one country’s jurisdiction.
Sampling in the mid-water today is mostly performed the same way it was 30 years ago, but recently, scientists and engineers have been working on new methods to improve the way we collect and understand marine species. In 2019, Co – Principal Investigators Brennan Phillips (University of Rhode Island), Kakani Katija (MBARI), Robert Wood (Harvard University), David Gruber (City University of New York/Baruch College), and their teams of interdisciplinary researchers voyaged aboard R/V Falkor to test new technologies that allow them to study open ocean species in situ, something that had never been done before. In August, they will return to Falkor to test improvements made to the technology since the 2019 expedition, and continue to refine the next generation of technologies for ocean exploration.
More about the research HERE.
ROV Dive 453 – East Cortes Basin
Date: Aug 12, 2021
Location: Off the coast of San Diego, CA
Estimated Maximum Depth: 420 meters
Work Completed: Exploring fauna in the midwater using new tools just off the coast of San Diego, CA.
ROV Dive 454 – Offshore Site 1
Date: Aug 12, 2021
Location: 200 nautical miles off the coast of San Diego, CA
Estimated Maximum Depth: 1050 meters
Work Completed: Exploring fauna in the midwater using new tools.
ROV Dive 455 – Offshore Site 1
Date: Aug 14, 2021
Location: 200 nautical miles off the coast of San Diego, CA
Estimated Maximum Depth: 1800 meters
Work Completed: Exploring fauna in the midwater using new tools.
ROV Dive 456, Part 1 – Offshore Site 1
Date: Aug 15, 2021
Location: 200 nautical miles off the coast of San Diego, CA
Estimated Maximum Depth: 700 meters
Work Completed: Exploring fauna in the midwater using new tools.
ROV Dive 456, Part 2 – Offshore Site 1
Date: Aug 15, 2021
Location: 200 nautical miles off the coast of San Diego, CA
Estimated Maximum Depth: 120 meters
Work Completed: Exploring fauna in the midwater using new tools.
ROV Dive 457 – Offshore Site 2
Date: Aug 16, 2021
Location: 200 nautical miles off the coast of San Diego, CA
Estimated Maximum Depth: 1,000 meters
Work Completed: Exploring fauna in the midwater using new tools.
ROV Dive 458 – Offshore Site 3
Date: Aug 18, 2021
Location: 200 nautical miles off the coast of San Diego, CA
Estimated Maximum Depth: 640 meters
Work Completed: Exploring fauna in the midwater using new tools.
ROV Dive 459 – Blake Knolls
Date: Aug 19, 2021
Location: 65 nautical miles off the coast of San Diego, CA
Estimated Maximum Depth: ~380 meters
Work Completed: Exploring fauna in the midwater using new tools.
ROV Dive 460 – East Cortes Basin #2
Date: Aug 20, 2021
Location: 80 nautical miles off the coast of San Diego, CA
Estimated Maximum Depth: ~1,170 meters
Work Completed: Exploring fauna in the midwater using new tools.