Three marine robot vehicles – the AutoNaut, the C-Enduro, and the SV3 Waveglider – recently launched from Plymouth Harbour in the U.K. for a fish-tracking mission in and around new Marine Protected Areas (MPAs). Scientists from the Marine Biological Association (MBA) and engineers from the National Oceanography Centre (NOC) have joined together to study how fish use these areas on a daily basis through data collected by these autonomous robotic vehicles.
In conjunction with existing seabed listening stations, these marine robot vehicles use acoustic pingers to track fish species such as plaice, sole, brill, and rays. The three robot vehicles also have a range of sensors for data collection on water temperature and salinity. GoPro cameras have also been installed on the vehicles to capture video footage and photographs of marine life and local birds.
The MBA’s Dr. Stephen Cotterell, who is leading the project, said, “This technology will give us a new dimension in our understanding of fish movements, residency, and migrations in and around the marine protected areas off Plymouth. Understanding how fish use MPAs will be vital in understanding the value of these management tools to conserve fish stocks. One of the aims of the EU Marine Strategy Framework Directive is achieving sustainable fisheries, through an ecologically coherent network of MPAs. We just don’t know enough yet about how effective MPAs are for mobile species. With this work we aim to get somewhere closer.”
This fish-tracking mission is the second part of a two-phase project. In the first phase, five marine robots to collect ocean and meteorological data hundreds of miles off the Isles of Scilly.
Via MarineLink
Advertisement
Learn more about Electronic Products Magazine
