Fascinating animation shows the ever-changing temperature of our oceans

Sea surface temperature (SST) simulation from GFDL's high resolution coupled atmosphere-ocean model.

From NOAA

A fascinating animation by two scientists shows how the surface temperature of the sea varies across the world throughout the year.

Created by the Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (GFDL), the graphic illustrates the ever-changing temperature of our oceans.

As the animation focuses on various locations of the world ocean we see the major current systems eg. the Agulhas current, Brazil current, Gulf Stream, Pacific Equatorial current, Kuroshio current. The small scale eddy structure is resolved and evident.

It’s as if Earth had an invisible heart beat showing through the surface temperature of our oceans. Beautiful.

WindSurfing

Autosub6000, a robot sub for charting nearly every inch of the ocean

Rugged 3D seafloor terrain 5000 metres deep, where robot submarine Autosub6000 is hunting for deep-sea vents among the underwater cliffs and gulleys.

From Gizmodo

As the world awaits Curiosity’s arrival on Mars, an alien landscape 227 million kilometres closer to home remains woefully unexplored.
To chart the vast depths of the ocean, the UK has developed an unmanned sub capable of diving miles beneath the sea.

It’s called the Autosub6000. This 5.5m, 2.7-tonne, titanium-clad Autonomous Underwater Vehicle is the latest in a long line of independent deep sea explorers developed by the National Oceanography Centre, Southampton.
As the name implies, the Autosub is pressure-rated to a staggering 6000 metres — deep enough to explore 90 per cent of the word’s oceans.

Rather than being tied to its mothership via a 6km umbilical for power and control, like conventional ROVs, the Autosub free-dives.
Its flight path is pre-programmed before the submersible is launched.
In the water, up to 12 rechargeable lithium-ion polymer battery packs on a five-hour charge provide enough juice for 60 hours or 350km of operation.
While this is a huge improvement over previous Autosub models that ran on regular D batteries — 5500 of them to be precise — the NOC hopes to double the operational capacity on future UAV models.

Launching and recovering Autosub6000, our underwater robot, on its missions exploring the depths of the Cayman Trough in search of deep-sea volcanic vents.

Since the Autosub works without human intervention, it employs GPS navigation when on the surface and an Ixsea PHINS fibre Optic Gyro (FOG) based Inertial Navigation System, coupled to a RD Instruments 300kHz Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler, which allows the sub to maintain a constant height above the seafloor as the terrain changes.

 Autosub criss-crossed an area on the Porcupine plain that includes a 250m-high mound

As a sensor suite loaded into the watercraft’s nose collects scientific data, it also uses forward-facing collision-avoidance sonar to avoid running into reefs, black smokers, cliffs and other obstacles. “Apart from the correct functioning of the vehicle during the trials at extreme depths, what particularly pleased me was that we have now developed the control and obstacle avoidance systems such that we have the confidence to send the AUV into a hostile and rugged terrain. This will lead to more challenging and interesting scientific campaigns in the future,” said Steve McPhail, Autosub6000 project leader.

Links :

• BBC : Autosub surveys deep ocean floor off Land's End

Superbird dives 150 ft underwater in 40 secs

From Discovery

If speed diving were an Olympic sport, the imperial cormorant would definitely medal. Dubbed "Superbird" by avian experts, the South American sea bird was videotaped diving 150 feet underwater in 40 seconds.

Imperial cormorants would probably be on the podium with a bunch of penguins, which are also ace divers.
(There's a very cool page about penguin diving here, which shows various species and how deep they dive.)

Just as technology is improving human athletics and sports timing accuracy, it's also providing more accurate real-time recording of non-human animal physical feats.
In this case, Flavio Quintana and colleagues from the Wildlife Conservation Society and the National Research Council of Argentina recently outfitted an imperial cormorant with a tiny camera and watched as it became Superbird.

The avian swimming sensation dove 150 feet in 40 seconds.
That distance is equivalent to a 13-story skyscraper with very tall ceilings on each floor.

The bird then stayed underwater for 80 seconds, enough time for it to catch a snakelike fish.
With the fish in its beak, the imperial cormorant then returned to the surface in 40 seconds.
The footage marks the first time that researchers have been able to directly view the feeding technique of these talented birds.
You can even see how the camera was attached to the bird’s back, since the view is of the bird's head as it pumps its feet to swim deeper.

The video was taken at Punta Leon in Patagonia, Argentina.
This is a coastal protected area supporting more than 3.500 pairs of imperial cormorants. The research team has tracked 400+ cormorants along the Patagonian Coast of Argentina using such cutting-edge tools as multi-channel archival tags and high- resolution GPS-loggers, in addition to video.

The scientists are gathering all of this data to help identify priority feeding areas, which can then be safeguarded and monitored.

There are some 40 species of cormorants, one or more of which you might have seen near water. After they come ashore from a fishing trip, the birds frequently hold their wings out in the sun.
It's a sight you can't miss if you're nearby, as it's quite dramatic.
They have waterproof feathers, but this stance helps to dry out the outside of the feathers and wings, getting them ready for the next power dive.

Links :

• NationalGeographic :  "Superbird" Cormorant's Deep Dive Caught on Video—A Surprising First
• YouTube : Brandt's Cormorant diving for fish

OpenROV will change exploration of last true frontier

OpenROV meets the OpenWATER

From Forbes

Robots are immensely cool and allow us to learn more about the world  we see every day.
OpenROV is “cooler” because it lets us explore and learn about the world we can’t see; the last frontier of which we see only the surface usually.

Although there are many, many terrific projects on KickStarter , this ranks as my all-time favorite to date.
The OpenROV project is an open-source underwater robot for exploration and education. Their goal is to provide kits for the DIY community.

On their blog, they announced that they have a small section of the forum dedicated to adventures - a place to collect research and exploration ideas.
David Lang, co-founder, writes: “For us, it’s important to keep in mind why we want to build it and all the fun we’re going to have once everyone has one.”

OpenROV, as a
 Do-It-Yourself telerobotics community is centered on underwater exploration and education.
Their robot is made of mostly off-the-shelf parts.
Probably not stuff you have laying around the shop, but ones you can easily acquire.
They have been prototyping the entire project at TechShop (done some open build type nights, too) and I’ve seen files uploaded to GitHub, Ponoko, and I’m sure there are others.

There appears to be a worldwide userbase much like the open source laser cutter project called Lasersaur.
I’d like to see if there’s one in the works up near me and get it out into the Hood Canal to visit one of the giant octopus known to be in those waters.
However, a buddy of mine had an underwater ROV that he built for another project and a giant octopus decided it looked like lunch.
Munch, munch.
I think the OpenROV is more affordable than his and maybe, maybe, slightly less painful to lose to a hungry cephalopod.

Here are the answers (from the official OpenROV Kickstarter post) to a few questions I know the tech makers, hackers, and inventors will  have:

How is the ROV controlled?

“Flying the ROV is a lot like playing a video game. The interface is hosted as a webserver from the ROV that allows you to control its movements with your computer’s keyboard and see it’s video feed on your screen. We’re also developing an interface that will use a USB game controller. Eventually, we plan to make the ROV controllable via the internet, and our hope is that developers who get the kit through this Kickstarter project will have ideas for how to help.”

What comes after Kickstarter?

“We want this to be a sustainable adventure. Our plan is to get user feedback from people who build and operate OpenROV’s to make the design even better and more fitted toward the community’s needs. We plan to continue selling OpenROV Kits (and assembled OpenROVs) on our website as well as payloads and accessories for specific uses. We also hope that by building a strong community of people who understand the hardware and its applications, we’ll be able to develop ways of doing better science and exploration in more remote and interesting places.”

Since I’ve spent a fair amount of time involved with underwater projects (former SCUBA instructor, guide, and dolphin research work) I’ll admit that I’m a bit biased about the importance of this project to humanity.
There are many important scientific ocean and marine experiments and university projects that will benefit from this underwater remote operated vehicle.
But if you think about some of the cool discoveries that have taken place in the ocean, you may decide to agree with me.

With 11 days left on their project, they have over-funded already, but that’s okay, go fund it some more.
Good projects can always use more funds to bigger and better things.

Links :

• Co.Exist : OpenROV: A personal submarine for your underwater missions
• NYTimes : A mini sub made from cheap parts could change underwater exploration
• NASA : Open hardware exploration at NEEMO16 (video)