ADSR - Azores Deep-Sea Research

CRUISES / MapGES 2018

Mapping deep-sea biodiversity and “Good Environmental Status” in the Azores

Summary Show more ↓

MapGES 2018 aimed to test the first design of a low-cost, custom-made drop-down camera system. The system was capable of working at depths down to 600 m with a live-view signal sent to the surface for navigation purposes. The drop-down system was equipped with two action cameras, which provided a stereoscopic image, allowing for post-processing measurements of the organisms. It was also equipped with external batteries that feed the cameras and the lighting system to maximize the bottom time in each deployment. A Baited Remote Underwater Video equipment (BRUV) was also developed and used to evaluate the fish communities living in each of the explored areas. The BRUV was also equipped with two action cameras, lighting, and temperature and depth sensors, and incorporated a bait box to attract fish and other species.

Statistics

Transits

415 km

Multibeam Bathymetry

0 km²

Filmed Seabed

4.5 km

Visited Areas

Stations

Dives

Video Footage Recorded

9 hours

Used Storage

0.55 Tb

Samples

No samples were collected

Highlights

We tested the custom-made low-cost drop-down and BRUV video platforms and identified the main pitfalls to inform the improvement of their designs.
Three seamounts for which there was very limited information were explored with 11 drop-down camera deployments.
Several areas with large aggregations of cold-water coral and sponges were identified in all seamounts many of which may fit the criteria for defining what constitutes a Vulnerable Marine Ecosystem.
We discovered the densest aggregation of Dentomuricea cf. meteor known in the Azores so far in Dom João de Castro seamount.