Demonstration of a deep sea robot – NRC

Life under the water continues to amaze. Crazy and amazing creatures like the ones in these pictures live in the depths of the unknown ocean. spherical red fish (chonacubs(In the top photo, it was spotted at a depth of 1,389 meters by an underwater robot called SuBastian, which can descend to a depth of 4,500 metres. Most marine animals cannot perceive the red color in the image on their own. They only see colors that reach these depths: blue And green. Only some predatory fish can see red, and in this way they find their prey.

At least 71 percent of our Earth is covered by water. However, we know little about it: only a quarter of underwater life has been mapped. a International team From the American Schmidt Ocean Institute Contribute an important piece of the puzzle at the beginning of this year. The researchers went on a month-long expedition off the coast of Chile. Their focus was on the undersea mountain ranges of Salas y Gómez and Nazca, which span 2,900 square kilometers between Chile and Easter Island.

Biodiversity unknown

Like the fish, the bottom four photos were taken by SuBastian during that expedition. The robot photographed orange spiral coral, red short crayfish and white sponges at a depth of about 1,400 metres, while the robot photographed pink sea urchins.dermenchinus oblongata) at a depth of 516 metres.

The seamounts, which were formed as a result of volcanic activity, are located in the waters of the Humboldt Current. This is a cold, nutrient-rich ocean current from Antarctica, which creates a unique ecosystem with a rich and almost unknown biodiversity.

During the expedition, the team discovered an estimated 100 new marine species, such as deep-sea corals, glass sponges, sea urchins, and plump lobsters.

Although expeditions to remote places like these often lead to new discoveries, the number of species also surprised the researchers themselves. It was overwhelming. “A gift that encourages us to further uncover the mystery of the ocean,” says one researcher excitedly in a video.

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