Eyes in the sea: Unlocking the mysteries of the ocean using industrial, remotely operated vehicles (ROVs)

Abstract

For thousands of years humankind has sought to explore our oceans. Evidence of this early intrigue dates back to 130,000BCE, but the advent of remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) in the 1950s introduced technology that has had significant impact on ocean exploration. Today, ROVs play a critical role in both military (e.g. retrieving torpedoes and mines) and salvage operations (e.g. locating historic shipwrecks such as the RMS Titanic), and are crucial for oil and gas (O&G) exploration and operations. Industrial ROVs collect millions of observations of our oceans each year, fueling scientific discoveries. Herein, we assembled a group of international ROV experts from both academia and industry to reflect on these discoveries and, more importantly, to identify key questions relating to our oceans that can be supported using industry ROVs. From a long list, we narrowed down to the 10 most important questions in ocean science that we feel can be supported (whole or in part) by increasing access to industry ROVs, and collaborations with the companies that use them. The questions covered opportunity (e.g. what is the resource value of the oceans?) to the impacts of global change (e.g. which marine ecosystems are most sensitive to anthropogenic impact?). Looking ahead, we provide recommendations for how data collected by ROVs can be maximised by higher levels of collaboration between academia and industry, resulting in win-win outcomes. What is clear from this work is that the potential of industrial ROV technology in unravelling the mysteries of our oceans is only just beginning to be realised. This is particularly important as the oceans are subject to increasing impacts from global change and industrial exploitation. The coming decades will represent an important time for scientists to partner with industry that use ROVs in order to make the most of these 'eyes in the sea'.

UK deep‐sea conservation: Progress, lessons learned, and actions for the future

“…Advances in technologies have been crucial in progressing understanding of the deep sea, with technologies such as ROVs and AUVs being increasingly accessible and used. Improvements to technologies such as deep‐sea landers, enabling additional environmental parameters to be measured, will also facilitate increased understanding of deep‐sea ecosystem diversity and vulnerability, and collaboration with industry for use of such technologies, as shown through the SERPENT project, can support higher levels of survey coverage than would be achievable through independent scientific research alone (Macreadie et al, ). However, there remain several issues associated with their use, including long data processing times and high costs.…”

“…Furthermore, the Foresight Future of the Seas report states that "Interdisciplinary marine science will be critical to furthering understanding of the sea, its value, and the impact of climate change and human activities on the marine environment" (Defra, 2018a). can support higher levels of survey coverage than would be achievable through independent scientific research alone (Macreadie et al, 2018).…”

Some Old Movies Become Classics – A Case Study Determining the Scientific Value of ROV Inspection Footage on a Platform on Australia’s North West Shelf

“…For example, cameras that provide high resolution video (e.g., 4k) and still frames can be easily fitted to ROVs at a small additional expense. The use of 3D video which allows for precise measurements of organisms and other objects in the field of view would also be valuable (Macreadie et al, 2018). Additionally, ROV research could be complemented by other survey techniques such as baited remote video, light traps and eDNA to help determine how these structures are used by fish (McLean et al, 2017).…”

“…Oil structures are regularly inspected for operational and engineering purposes using underwater video cameras mounted on Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROVs). The oil and gas industry worldwide holds a vast archive of inspection footage dating back decades (Macreadie et al, 2018). Although collected in an imperfect scientific manner, this archive contains footage of marine fauna associating with oil and gas structures and surrounding habitats, making it a potential source of long-term data for biological observation (Macreadie et al, 2018;McLean et al, 2018a).…”

“…The oil and gas industry worldwide holds a vast archive of inspection footage dating back decades (Macreadie et al, 2018). Although collected in an imperfect scientific manner, this archive contains footage of marine fauna associating with oil and gas structures and surrounding habitats, making it a potential source of long-term data for biological observation (Macreadie et al, 2018;McLean et al, 2018a). The footage also covers a depth range rarely achieved by independent scientific investigations, spanning from the surface to beyond 1,000 m depth.…”