The Halmos College of Natural Sciences and Oceanography purchased two ROVs, remotely operated vehicles that contains pressurized units and cameras which allows for exploration of deeper oceanic areas. The purchases of the ROVs was made possible through the internal President’s Faculty Research and Development Grant that was awarded last year. The purpose of the ROVs is for a study exploring deeper regions of the ocean, particularly in the mesophotic zone. The mesophotic zone, also known as the twilight zone, is an area from about 30 to 150 meters down, which can be a tough area to explore without specialized equipment such as an ROV.
The inspiration behind this research is thanks to a discovery through a mapping study with the government and the preliminary ROV work of Dr. Brian Walker, research scientist of the GIS & Spatial Ecology Laboratory, in which a specific area of interest off the coast of Ft. Lauderdale was found to be entirely covered in sediment. The area is about 30 to 45 meters down and speculatively covered in sediment due to the initial creation of Port Everglades, an inlet that was originally a freshwater lake and later drenched about 100 years ago. “That inspired this study to go to those areas and see what’s happening 100 years later, what’s growing in those areas, if anything, and then compare it to areas to the north and south that are relatively undisturbed and uburried, compare and see what kind of impacts there were,” explained associate professor Paul Arena of the department of Biological Sciences.
The study is still in the early stages since the college received the technology in August. Actually, Arena said that this study is “really just starting.” It is, however, projected to be beneficial for both undergraduate and graduate students. “The value of having these units is really critical. This is a tool that we’re seeing more and more of in universities and researchers utilize [ROVs] to really study the unexplored portions of the ocean,” said Arena. As of now, there are graduate students that are helping with the study in hopes of it leading to their masters’ thesis, and one undergraduate student is doing an independent study with the project as well. One of Arena’s goals with this project is “to get as many students involved using this equipment and seeing how it’s utilized so that they can take the skills with them into graduate fields or into a workplace.”
Additionally, the ROVs need to be named to keep the units distinct and separate as well as keep them connected to the university. Any students with suggestions of names for the ROVs or wanting to learn more can contact Dr. Arena at arenap@nova.edu.
