We saw some really cool things snorkeling last weekend, although not many fish — I was too excited checking out the animals living in the rocky areas where was the kelp was attached. I did see some huge sea urchins and even a couple nudibranchs! Very fun. While you wait patiently for another snorkeling adventure, enjoy this wonderful video about creepy sea animals from the utterly charming and informative Fake Month At The Museum:
There is some truly crazy stuff in the oceans, and we haven’t even begun to explore it all. But speaking of oceanic exploration, what could be better than an open source ROV? Via BoingBoing & NYT:
He had, under his arm, what might appear to be a clunky toy blue submarine about the size of a lunchbox. The machine is the latest prototype of the OpenROV–an open-source, remotely operated vehicle that could map the cave in 3D using software from Autodesk and collect water in places too tight for a diver to go. It could change the future of ocean exploration. For now, it is exploring caves because it can only go down 100 meters. But it holds promise because it is cheap, links to a laptop, and is available to a large number of researchers for experimentation. Indeed, the OpenROV team hopes to start taking orders for OpenROV kits on the crowd sourced project site, Kickstarter. Going for $750, the kits include laser cut plastic parts and all the electronics necessary to build an OpenROV. (Users will have to bring their own laptops to view the onboard video feed and control the machine. They’ll also have to supply their own C-cell batteries which power the sub.) The subs are expected to be available by the end of summer.
Cool!
“The OpenROV submersible remote controlled vehicle sits in front of its control camera monitor, drying off.” [Photo: NYT]
“This picture from the NEEMO mission is great, and not just because the Aquarius Undersea Lab is in the background. I think this gives a glimpse into what’s possible with OpenROV in regards to payloads and modifying it for specific uses.” [Photo: OpenROV Blog]
Indy Sea 