"Deep and Cheap":
successful first trials aboard RV LOKATE
The Zoological Society of London (ZSL), the International Seakeepers Society and Pelagics Conservation successfully trialled a prototype low-cost camera designed to make deep-sea observation more accessible to the global scientific community.
The vision: democratise deep-sea research
Deep seas cover 65% of our planet’s surface, yet we have only gathered imagery from less than 0.001% of it, largely in the waters of a few wealthy nations and areas of commercial interest.
This alien world remains extremely difficult to access: current research relies on sophisticated and expensive tools such as remote operated vehicles (ROVs), autonomous underwater landers and crewed submersibles. This translates into a lack of basic scientific knowledge.
But this project, dubbed “Deep and Cheap” and led by Dr Stephen Long of ZSL, aims for a major paradigm shift.
“We want to design something that initially will be basic but adequate, using inexpensive materials and open-source computing. The vision is to eventually produce many cameras, and distribute them around the world so that research teams can begin exploring their deep sea. For some nations, it would be the first time they ever see their deep sea!”
From the shallows to 335 metres
Trials in southern Spain began tentatively. The first test involved simply lowering the camera into the sea at the beach in Almerimar, amid a few puzzled beachgoers. Nothing was guaranteed—not even whether it would survive contact with seawater. But this went well, and so the next stage was deployment from a vessel, in this case Pelagics Conservation’s small sailboat R/V Lokate. For this, the team chose an underwater mountain about 12 nautical miles south of Almerimar, known as the “Seco de los Olivos” or Chella Bank.
The Chella Bank seamount’s habitats — which include protected deep-sea coral reefs — have been well mapped already, but exploration wasn’t the aim of this camera deployment. Key questions were basic and operational-focused: how to deploy the camera off a small boat, or whether it would even work at all once the pressure rose with depth. Every deployment carried the risk of losing the camera. Two deployments were done: one at the seamount’s flat summit at 70 metres, and another along the mountain slope which reached 335 metres. Both successfully produced imagery of the seafloor.
Eiffel Tower «conquered»
While 335 metres might not sound like much, it exceeds the height of the Eiffel Tower (330 m) and The Shard (309 m), London’s tallest skyscraper—an impressive feat achieved from a small 1972 sailboat with a camera costing well under £2,000.
This was only the first stage of this project, which has quite literally only touched the surface: the average depth of the ocean is 3,600 metres (over two miles). Dr Long’s ambition is to design a camera that can reach 1,000 metres. Should this become a reality, it would, in his words, “democratise deep-sea science”. Even small organisations from around the world would suddenly be able to study and view the deep sea.
According to Pelagics Conservation’s coordinator Alexander Sánchez “it was a very positive first test, and I’m very grateful to the Seakeepers network for bringing us all together. I’ve been involved in marine research for about 14 years, but for small organisations like ours you mostly survey coastal ecosystems or the sea surface. The fact we have just recorded footage from the deep sea from our little sailboat is amazing. This type of innovation is just what ocean conservation needs going forward: more collaboration, more information, and then hopefully stronger protection for this vital ecosystem.”
The team is aiming high and hopes to improve the camera design, to then come back to Almerimar again and continue pushing the limits. The next goal, to beat the Burj Khalifa (828 m), and then go further still.
The deep sea is the largest habitat and last great frontier of our planet. Hopefully, this week, a small group of people on a little boat have brought us a little closer to lifting the veil.
Further information
From the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) site:
From SeaKeepers blog:
Our work also featured in local press: