MONTEREY, Calif. - Marine scientists studying the California coast now have a new remote controlled robot to help them study the deepest parts of the sea.
It's called the ROV, a remote controlled robot that gives marine scientists a better understanding of life in the deepest parts of the Pacific Ocean.
"Nobody really knows what the sea floor looks like," said Dr. James Lindholm, CSUMB marine researcher. "The scientists frequently don't know, the managers dont know, many of the stakeholders dont know so to go out there (with the ROV) is really exciting."
Previous underwater cameras don't have the resolution, depth range, and mobility that the ROV has; it also has forward and downward facing cameras, giving scientists two different views of life on the bottom of the sea.
The underwater robot is part of a state grant given to the non-profit group The Nature Conservancy. The Nature Conservancy is using it to evaluate marine life that was once unreachable with previous underwater cameras, as well as record data for research into the health of California's marine protected areas such as the Monterey Bay.
The ROV's first mission will be to assess the impact of trawl fishing in Morro Bay; it's hoped information gathered will help shape future ocean policy.
"One of the things we're doing is trying to get better assessments of certain kinds of activities such as bottom trawling to better manage where those activites should take place," said Dr. Mary Gleason, lead marine scientist with The Nature Conservancy.
Video collected from the ROV will also be analyzed by students at CSUMB, as part of a unique partnership between the academic and applied science worlds.
"Its an opportunity for students to collect science--good ecological science--and at the same time informing managers," said Lindholm.
"There's a clear application for all we're doing in this lab."
