Flying sea cucumbers, spiny sea urchins that glow, and giant crabs have been captured by specialised cameras in deep water off Australia’s coastline. The two cameras have revealed previously unseen behaviours.
The deep-towed camera system plunged nearly 4,000 metres into the waters of the Gascoyne Marine Park in Western Australia, while the baited remote underwater video system (DeepBRUVS) reached 1,000 metres.
DeepBruvs was designed by a Tasmanian engineering and technology team at the CSIRO and has passed its trial stage and is now in operation with updated systems.
The cameras have the ability to capture high-resolution video and photos of the sea floor.
So far, the researchers have recorded several new species, including sharks, lobsters, crabs, and other marine invertebrates that have never been seen before
Parks Australia, which manages 60 marine parks covering 39% of Australian waters, will use the data collected on RV Investigator to better understand and protect marine life.
Read the original story here on the ABC.