Artificial Reefs - through the Eyes of ROV

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Ocean explorations can help us understand how we are affecting and being affected by the changes in the earth’s ecosystem. Ocean flora, fauna and their habitats are essential factors in keeping our ecosystems in balance.

Underwater Remotely Operated Vehicles(ROV), have proven extremely useful for ocean explorations and are also used for many research purposes across the world. ROV operations are simpler and safer and it eliminates the risk of human life in most cases.

EyeROV Tuna- a versatile, modular and easy-to-deploy ROV, proves to be an excellent tool for Ocean exploration. TUNA can be deployed for all kinds of operations including inspection, observation, surveillance and maintenance. Additionally, EyeROV offers the latest digital technology for image enhancements and data interpretation. 

Recently the ROV was deployed at sea for an artificial coral reef study. The study was to assess the efficacy of the Artificial reefs and to assess the fish culture around these structures. Artificial Coral reefs are installed at sea to enhance fish production and provide livelihood support to the local fisherman. Besides enhancing the overall fish availability off the coast, the artificial reef cluster will revitalize the aquatic environment, act as a spawning and nursery ground, reduce the fishing time for scouting, and provide a livelihood to fishermen.

 

This survey was conducted at different locations where the artificial reefs were installed, as per the GPS coordinates given. EyeROV Tuna conducted a survey at the open sea at depths around 40m where other manual methods are difficult or very challenging. Equipped with 2 low-light HD cameras and extremely stable navigation and control systems made it easier to capture, jitter-free HD images even when the sea was choppy.

 

The videos collected were then enhanced with an in-house software package (EVAP) to provide true colours and haziness removal. Software reports are overlaid with exact locations for future reference. 

ROVs like TUNA are some of the safest and least intrusive technologies to study and conduct research on marine life at its best. The quality and quantity of data collected are high, helping researchers to understand marine life and its interactions with artificial reefs better.