Tiny new submarine is making a splash at BBSR
BBSR has been trying out a new submarine in some of its research and educational programs, and the initial tests have proved very successful. The tiny remotely
operated vehicle, called a VideoRay
ROV, weighs only eight pounds and is one of the most compact ROVs on the market, allowing BBSR researchers to explore deep or potentially dangerous study sites that were previously inaccessible. The submarine is equipped with video equipment and a manipulator arm that can be used to collect small samples of sediment or corals.
"The ROV's most important function is to do things divers cannot or should not do," says
Dr. Joanna Pitt, a scientist in the Marine Environmental Program. BBSR researchers have been using the recently acquired ROV to conduct observations at deeper sites, where divers cannot remain safely for more than five minutes,
and at the sewage outfall on south shore.Dr. Pitt says the small size and easy maneuverability of the submarine were the key features that attracted BBSR scientists to this model of ROV, which is
manufactured by the Pennsylvania-based company VideoRay. "The ROV is so small and unobtrusive that we are able to observe fishes without disturbing them," she says. BBSR's Marine Environmental Program
team is taking advantage of these features of the ROV in a new program with Dr. Brian Luckhurst, from the Marine Resources Division of the Department of Environmental Protection, to observe a black grouper spawning aggregation near the edge of the Bermuda platform. Species such as red hinds and other groupers, all of which are commercially
important, spawn together in large groups at specific sites and are particularly vulnerable to fishing unless measures are put in place to protect them. With spawning aggregations under threat worldwide,
the reproductive behavior of these aggregating species is an important research topic. The depths at which aggregations generally form are often beyond the limits of safe diving, so the remote cameras of the
ROV provide a unique opportunity for researchers to study these fishes. The project is the start of an important collaborative effort between BBSR and the Marine Resources Division.
BBSR has also begun to incorporate the ROV into its marine education
and community outreach programs, with plans to use it for everything from university-level summer and semester courses to visiting high school groups and local school groups. For example, underwater
activities that students need to perform on the reefs will be videoed by the ROV and shown prior to educational dives.
"It is hard for many students because they have never done science diving before," says
Dr. Samantha de Putron, instructor in residence at BBSR. "The concepts of the work are hard to grasp until the students are actually underwater, when
it's difficult to ask questions. The ROV footage will give the students a much better idea of what they are going to see and what the correct techniques are."The new submarine was the star of the show at
Marine Science Day 2004
on October 16th. The ROV spent the day roving in Ferry Reach while visitors of all ages tried their hands at maneuvering the equipment and retrieving small objects with its manipulator arm. Live video shot by the sub was piped back into the Marine Environmental Program laboratory and projected onto a large screen, while scientists and interns explained how the ROV can be used to enhance ocean research at BBSR.
The winner of BBSR's Name Our ROV competition was announced at the end of Marine Science Day, with the top prize going to Harrison Schultz of Somersfield Academy. Harrison chose the name Snapper and won a
free ROV boat trip for his entire primary school class. In September, the VideoRay
research and development team, including the president of VideoRay and an engineer from the NASA Kennedy Space Center, visited BBSR to use the deep ocean surrounding Bermuda as a testing location for their new ROV "Deep Blue," which made a successful dive off the south shore to 1,000 feet.
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