Latest news with #BRUVs
Scoop
06-05-2025
- Science
- Scoop
Baited Cameras And Submersible With Robotic Arm Surveying Tuvalu Waters
, RNZ Pacific Bulletin Editor An expedition in Tuvalu's waters is using a submersible to study the ocean - some parts of which have never been studied in-depth. The National Geographic Pristine Seas project is studying the health of Tuvalu's marine environments. The expedition is a partnership between Pristine Seas and Tuvalu government. Expedition leader Keiron Fraser said they will be deploying a range of scientific equipment in the sea and the tech will help them get an idea of the health of the ocean in that area. "The leg we're on at the moment is a deep sea leg. So, a lot of the work that we're doing at the moment is centred around our submersible, the Argonauta, and that's a three-person submersible which is rated to go down to 1300 metres," he said. "We can put scientists in that with a driver to record scientific observations, count fish, look for species and things like that." Fraser said the submersible has a variety of tools on it, including a manipulator arm enabling the scientist to reach out and grab things. It also has capability for a process called environmental DNA, or E-DNA. "When an organism's floating around in the water or swimming, it releases very, very small fragments of DNA, which is obviously from the bodies and that can be released in a variety of ways. "Using those DNA fragments you can actually sequence them. "So instead of swimming around looking for the fish species that you can see, you can collect water and to some degree you can identify - without seeing the actual organism, from their DNA in the water - the species that lives there." They also use BRUVs - baited remote underwater videos. "The idea of these is that you put them in the water and basically they record what species turn up. "They've got a bait can on various organisms in the area smell the the scent of the bait and come to the cameras and then from that you can work out what species live in that area and to some degree the density of them." Fraser said the area they are working in is fairly unexplored. "In some of the shallower waters, there's been some really good work done on scientific diving - shallow water surveys on fish and corals and things, but certainly in the area we're working for the next month in the deep sea, there's been I'm pretty sure next to nothing done. "The sort of data that we're collecting will help the Tuvalu government and the communities understand what lives in their seas and identify areas which are really prime for protection." The team will also conduct bird surveys, and after this expedition a second one is planned. "On that one there'll be scientific diving, looking at fish distributions using a technique called underwater visual census, and species that live on the bottom, such as coral and invertebrates, so things like sea cucumbers."
Otago Daily Times
26-04-2025
- General
- Otago Daily Times
Diver recovering after being bitten by great white shark
A great white shark was labelled curious, after it was spotted in a video investigating a bait pot put out to capture video footage of species in the Dusky Sound. Photo: supplied/DOC A diver is recovering well after being bitten by a shark at Dusky Sound in Fiordland National Park. The man had been diving from a charter boat, and was flown by helicopter to Southland Hospital in Invercargill in a moderate condition, about 5:30pm on Thursday. A Pure Salt Charters spokesperson said it was presumed a great white shark was responsible for the attack, although they were rarely in the area. The diver was bitten on the calf, and he and a dive buddy saw the shark clearly after the bite, and described it as a great white, Pure Salt Charters' Maria Kuster told the NZ Herald: "It was one bite and let go." Last month, DOC said footage from underwater video sites set up in Fiordland's Tamatea/Dusky Sound to monitor species diversity and numbers had captured many shark species, and the team had been surprised to see a great white among them. "While reviewing the videos, I saw a mature male white pointer shark (great white sharks are also called white pointer sharks) turn up to the BRUV [Baited Remote Underwater Video] - it was quite a shock! "We had been laughing about how cool it would be to see something like that. It's very rare to get such great footage," Sea Through Science researcher Adam Smith said. DOC said that in the footage, the shark appeared curious, headed straight to the video unit, mouthed the bait pot a couple of times then slowly swam away. "It's great to see these majestic creatures in their natural environment and to see how curious they are around the BRUVs," Smith said. "We've only seen a white shark once before during our surveys, at the Kermadec Islands, the other end of New Zealand." The region was also known to be home to inshore broadnose sevengill sharks, the DOC Facebook page said.
Otago Daily Times
26-04-2025
- General
- Otago Daily Times
Diver bitten by great white shark flown to hospital
A great white shark was labelled curious, after it was spotted in a video investigating a bait pot put out to capture video footage of species in the Dusky Sound. Photo: supplied/DOC A diver is recovering well after being bitten by a shark at Dusky Sound in Fiordland National Park. The man had been diving from a charter boat, and was flown by helicopter to Southland Hospital in Invercargill in a moderate condition, about 5:30pm on Thursday. A Pure Salt Charters spokesperson said it was presumed a great white shark was responsible for the attack, although they were rarely in the area. The diver was bitten on the calf, and he and a dive buddy saw the shark clearly after the bite, and described it as a great white, Pure Salt Charters' Maria Kuster told the NZ Herald: "It was one bite and let go." Last month, DOC said footage from underwater video sites set up in Fiordland's Tamatea/Dusky Sound to monitor species diversity and numbers had captured many shark species, and the team had been surprised to see a great white among them. "While reviewing the videos, I saw a mature male white pointer shark (great white sharks are also called white pointer sharks) turn up to the BRUV [Baited Remote Underwater Video] - it was quite a shock! "We had been laughing about how cool it would be to see something like that. It's very rare to get such great footage," Sea Through Science researcher Adam Smith said. DOC said that in the footage, the shark appeared curious, headed straight to the video unit, mouthed the bait pot a couple of times then slowly swam away. "It's great to see these majestic creatures in their natural environment and to see how curious they are around the BRUVs," Smith said. "We've only seen a white shark once before during our surveys, at the Kermadec Islands, the other end of New Zealand." The region was also known to be home to inshore broadnose sevengill sharks, the DOC Facebook page said.
RNZ News
26-04-2025
- General
- RNZ News
Diver bitten by great white shark flown to hospital
A great white shark was labelled curious, after it was spotted in a video investigating a bait pot put out to capture video footage of species in the Dusky Sound. Photo: Supplied/ DOC A diver is recovering well after being bitten by a shark at Dusky Sound in Fiordland National Park. The man had been diving from a charter boat, and was flown by helicopter to Southland Hospital in Invercargill in a moderate condition, about 5:30pm on Thursday. A Pure Salt Charters spokesperson said it was presumed a great white shark was responsible for the attack, although they were rarely in the area. The diver was bitten on the calf, and he and a dive buddy saw the shark clearly after the bite, and described it as a great white, Pure Salt Charters' Maria Kuster told the NZ Herald: "It was one bite and let go." Last month, DOC said footage from underwater video sites set up in Fiordland's Tamatea/Dusky Sound to monitor species diversity and numbers had captured many shark species, and the team had been surprised to see a great white among them . "While reviewing the videos, I saw a mature male white pointer shark (great white sharks are also called white pointer sharks) turn up to the BRUV [Baited Remote Underwater Video] - it was quite a shock! "We had been laughing about how cool it would be to see something like that. It's very rare to get such great footage," Sea Through Science researcher Adam Smith said. DOC said that in the footage, the shark appeared curious, headed straight to the video unit, mouthed the bait pot a couple of times then slowly swam away. "It's great to see these majestic creatures in their natural environment and to see how curious they are around the BRUVs," Smith said. "We've only seen a white shark once before during our surveys, at the Kermadec Islands, the other end of New Zealand." The region was also known to be home to inshore broadnose sevengill sharks, the DOC Facebook page said. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
Miami Herald
18-03-2025
- Science
- Miami Herald
‘Curious' great white shark approaches camera off New Zealand. See ‘very rare' video
When scientists in New Zealand checked the footage from an underwater camera, they expected to see a variety of fish and some sharks, and they did. But, much to their surprise, they had also recorded a 'very rare' video of a great white shark. Researchers visited Dusky Sound in February to conduct a Baited Remote Underwater Video survey, or BRUV survey. The project involved dropping a baited camera unit to the seafloor, leaving it to record and then collecting it and checking the footage, New Zealand's Department of Conservation said in a March 13 news release. 'It's a great opportunity to collect valuable data and to see what species are attracted to the bait,' Richard Kinsey, a senior ranger with the department, said in the release. In total, the team recorded over 200 hours of footage, officials said. But a roughly two-minute-long clip stood out. The video showed an adult male great white shark approaching the camera, scaring away another smaller shark and some fish in the process. The shark circled the camera several times, tried to eat the bait and knocked the contraption around. Eventually, the shark seems to give up and swims away. 'It was quite a shock!' Adam Smith, a researcher with Sea Through Science involved in the project, said in the release. 'We had been laughing about how cool it would be to see something like that. It's very rare to get such great footage.' 'We've only seen a white shark once before during our surveys, at the Kermadec Islands, the other end of New Zealand,' Smith said. 'It's great to see these majestic creatures in their natural environment and to see how curious they are around the BRUVs.' New Zealand is considered 'one of the world's hot spots' for great white sharks, officials said. These iconic oceanic predators frequent the coasts, harbors and nearby open ocean as part of their migration patterns. Still, great white sharks are considered endangered in New Zealand and protected by law. Surveys at Dusky Sound have finished, but researchers are still studying their footage. Dusky Sound is along the southwestern coast of New Zealand's South Island and on the opposite end of the country from Auckland.
