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ROV showcases rarely seen underwater Antarctica world

Credit: Boxfish Research

A new kind of remotely operated vehicle (ROV) is being used to capture fascinating footage of life beneath the surface in McMurdo Sound.

According to a recent report, a University of Canterbury scientist is using Kiwi technology in her Antarctic research into the Ross Sea region Marine Protected Area.

Dr Regina Eisert is a scientist from Gateway Antarctica, which is the Centre for Antarctic Studies and Research at the University.

She partnered with a company that changes the way underwater observation is done with its ROVs, in order to study Type-C killer whales.

The ROV was able to capture a stunning footage by being underwater for 21 hours this season.

Some of the creatures recorded include Adélie penguins, whales, Weddell seals, bright red octopus and a glowing ctenophore.

A boost for Marine Science

According to her, a marine mammal expert, the technology is a game-changer for marine science as it is safer and is able to cover a much wider scope than scuba divers.

Before this, the view they have of marine animals are those they have from the surface.

Penguins, for instance, are observed waddling along. Seals would be found sleeping on the ice while whales are seen only when they surface.

But these animals live in the water and that is the important stuff to see.

With the ROV, they were able to confirm the overlap between penguins and Type-C killer whales by recording unconcerned penguins freely entering and exiting the water in the presence of these whales, which were ignoring them.

The remotely operated vehicle carried out a total of 15 dives, gathering 21 hours of footage and reaching a depth of 210 metres this season.

The company’s Co-Founder travelled all the way to Antarctica to drive the device and see how it would perform in the extreme cold.

The season went exceptionally well. There is definitely a scope for the company to take it further in the years to come.

On top of killer whale surveying, the company was able to do some environmental monitoring around the sea floor near Scott Base and could go to many more sites.

Antarctica New Zealand Chief Science Advisor Dr Fiona Shanhun said that the footage showcases the underwater Antarctic world which is rarely seen.

The possibility of using this technology to support future research projects is exciting. The Agency is supporting this research.

Ross Sea region Marine Protected Area

The Ross Sea region is one of the most pristine marine environments in the world and now hosts the largest Marine Protected Area.

In December 2017, the Ross Sea Marine Protected Area was formed, covering 1.55 million square kilometres, of which 1.12 million is a no fishing zone.

At different times of the year, the region is home to more than 30% of the world’s Adélie penguins, around quarter of all emperor penguins, around half the Ross Sea killer whales and rare and vulnerable benthic species like sponges that can live for 500 years.

 It is also a breeding ground and habitat for Antarctic toothfish. The Ross Sea MPA requires active research and monitoring to ensure it provides effective protection for its unique ecosystem.

PARTNER

Qlik’s vision is a data-literate world, where everyone can use data and analytics to improve decision-making and solve their most challenging problems. A private company, Qlik offers real-time data integration and analytics solutions, powered by Qlik Cloud, to close the gaps between data, insights and action. By transforming data into Active Intelligence, businesses can drive better decisions, improve revenue and profitability, and optimize customer relationships. Qlik serves more than 38,000 active customers in over 100 countries.

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CTC Global Singapore, a premier end-to-end IT solutions provider, is a fully owned subsidiary of ITOCHU Techno-Solutions Corporation (CTC) and ITOCHU Corporation.

Since 1972, CTC has established itself as one of the country’s top IT solutions providers. With 50 years of experience, headed by an experienced management team and staffed by over 200 qualified IT professionals, we support organizations with integrated IT solutions expertise in Autonomous IT, Cyber Security, Digital Transformation, Enterprise Cloud Infrastructure, Workplace Modernization and Professional Services.

Well-known for our strengths in system integration and consultation, CTC Global proves to be the preferred IT outsourcing destination for organizations all over Singapore today.

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Planview has one mission: to build the future of connected work. Our solutions enable organizations to connect the business from ideas to impact, empowering companies to accelerate the achievement of what matters most. Planview’s full spectrum of Portfolio Management and Work Management solutions creates an organizational focus on the strategic outcomes that matter and empowers teams to deliver their best work, no matter how they work. The comprehensive Planview platform and enterprise success model enables customers to deliver innovative, competitive products, services, and customer experiences. Headquartered in Austin, Texas, with locations around the world, Planview has more than 1,300 employees supporting 4,500 customers and 2.6 million users worldwide. For more information, visit www.planview.com.

SUPPORTING ORGANISATION

SIRIM is a premier industrial research and technology organisation in Malaysia, wholly-owned by the Minister​ of Finance Incorporated. With over forty years of experience and expertise, SIRIM is mandated as the machinery for research and technology development, and the national champion of quality. SIRIM has always played a major role in the development of the country’s private sector. By tapping into our expertise and knowledge base, we focus on developing new technologies and improvements in the manufacturing, technology and services sectors. We nurture Small Medium Enterprises (SME) growth with solutions for technology penetration and upgrading, making it an ideal technology partner for SMEs.

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HashiCorp provides infrastructure automation software for multi-cloud environments, enabling enterprises to unlock a common cloud operating model to provision, secure, connect, and run any application on any infrastructure. HashiCorp tools allow organizations to deliver applications faster by helping enterprises transition from manual processes and ITIL practices to self-service automation and DevOps practices. 

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IBM is a leading global hybrid cloud and AI, and business services provider. We help clients in more than 175 countries capitalize on insights from their data, streamline business processes, reduce costs and gain the competitive edge in their industries. Nearly 3,000 government and corporate entities in critical infrastructure areas such as financial services, telecommunications and healthcare rely on IBM’s hybrid cloud platform and Red Hat OpenShift to affect their digital transformations quickly, efficiently and securely. IBM’s breakthrough innovations in AI, quantum computing, industry-specific cloud solutions and business services deliver open and flexible options to our clients. All of this is backed by IBM’s legendary commitment to trust, transparency, responsibility, inclusivity and service.

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