New Submarine Explores California's Sea Floor

Photo taken by the Beagle, the Nature Conservancy's new remote-control submersible. Photo courtesy the Nature Conservancy.

by David Carroll — published September 25, 2009

On September 25, 2009, the Nature Conservancy unveiled the newest star in its research lineup: a submersible remotely operated vehicle (ROV) named the Beagle. The new ROV was christened in honor of Darwin's famous research vessel today after a national online naming competition.

The refrigerator-sized robotic submarine is equipped with high-resolution cameras to image seafloors more than half a mile deep. It has a manipulator arm for taking samples and removing commercial debris, and a suite of instruments from sonar to pH sensors to laser rangefinders. What's more, the science package of ROV is completely customizable. "That's what's really exciting about working with a cutting-edge instrument like this," says Mary Gleason, lead marine scientist with the Nature Conservancy. "We can use it for any type of mission we design."

Nature Conservancy scientist Mary Gleason with the new Beagle ROV. Photo courtesy the Nature Conservancy.

The new ROV, which has already gone through several months of test dives, began its research mission in earnest today in Morro Bay, controlled by scientists aboard the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary research vessel Fulmar. The research team, composed of conservancy staff along with scientists from a host of regulatory and research groups, will use the ROV to study the impact of bottom trawling on seafloor communities. Cooperating fishermen in Morro Bay will be tracked by the Beagle, and the impacts of different trawling techniques and recovery of trawled areas measured by the research team. "This is the first time a controlled study like this has been done in California," says Gleason. "It'll really help us to think about how to solve marine conservation problems."

The Beagle will also see service this year around southern California's Channel Islands, where it will measure the effectiveness of Marine Protected Areas already established there.

Learn more about the Beagle and its mission at www.nature.org/rov

Watch a video of the new ROV in action.