PVDF sonar array
Top view
High Frequency sonar array
Bottom view
Multibeam Sonar
Power & telemetry bottle
LED light panels
The stereo camera system depends on illumination from two panels of LED lights, one on each side of the vehicle’s front frame. Each panel holds 1,344 tiny strobing LEDs, which illuminate a 3.3-foot by 3.3-foot area of water—and any animals that pass through it.
Cable termination
Holographic camera system
Rubber feet
e-DNA sampler
Irradiance sensor
Hydrodynamic stability fins
Stereo camera system
Tagline bails
Bumpers
X
LED light panels
Environmental sensing package
Tagline bails
These aluminum loops allow the Deep-See to be grabbed with a hook attached to a tagline on a winch aboard the ship. Once secured with several lines, the approximately 1-ton vehicle can be raised and carefully maneuvered into or out of the water while at sea.
Power and telemetry bottle
This bottle and its contents serve as the vehicle's “heart.” Designed at WHOI, it powers all the instruments and connects them to the vehicle’s electro-optical cable. It also allows researchers on the ship to control the Deep-See’s instruments while the vehicle is under water and to receive their data in real time.
Irradiance sensor (not pictured)
This novel light sensor can distinguish ambient light from light produced by organisms—known as bioluminescence. It provides a highly sensitive measurement of the amount of sunlight reaching the twilight zone, a key factor driving the daily migration of twilight zone animals to and from the surface to feed.
Cable termination
This hub connects the electro-optical cable to the Deep-See, allowing power and data to be transmitted to and from the vehicle to the ship in real time. It is the same type of cable termination used for WHOI’s remotely operated vehicle Medea.
Environmental sensing package
The Deep-See carries a host of environmental sensors that measure seawater characteristics including temperature, salinity, concentrations of dissolved oxygen, and the amount of light available to marine plants.
Hydrodynamic stability fins
The tailfins on the Deep-See provide stability by increasing the drag and lift at the back of the vehicle as it is towed. The farther back the tail is from the vehicle’s tow point, the more stable the vehicle is as it moves through the water.
Bumpers
Made of aluminum, the Deep-See’s bumpers protect its precious cargo of delicate instruments and electronics.
Rubber feet
These feet provide the Deep-See with cushioning and stability when it is on the deck of a moving ship.
Multibeam sonar
This 500 kHz multibeam sonar emits a wide, fan-shaped sheet of sound in front of the vehicle. This allows it to acoustically survey a broad swath of water at one time and to detect fish and other animals that may be avoiding the vehicle and its camera systems
PVDF (polyvinylidenefluoride) sonar array
Never before used in marine research, this broadband (1–45 kHz) sonar array has three transducers (shown in green) that emit acoustic signals. When the soundwaves encounter a fish or other animal, some fraction of the acoustic energy bounces back and is detected at a receiver (shown as a black square). The receiver splits the signal into eight parts, allowing researchers to identify the location of individual animals and track them.
High frequency sonar array
The Deep-See carries four, split-beam, high-frequency sonars (shown in red) that both emit and receive sound waves. Their frequencies span 50 to 410 kHz, allowing the array to detect and classify animals ranging in size from tiny zooplankton to large fish.
Stereo camera system
This system is based on an earlier one known as LAPIS (Large Area Plankton Imaging System), which was designed to capture images of gelatinous animals such as jellyfish. The new system is also being used to image fish, squid, and other animals. Using a stereo system allows researchers to determine an animal’s size.
This system can capture images of some of the twilight zone’s smallest inhabitants. It sends a laser beam from a transmitter on one side of the Deep-See’s front frame to a receiver on the other side, seven times per second, and can detect animals as small as 0.002 inches in length.
Holographic camera system
e-DNA sampler (not pictured)
This sampling system collects seawater for later analysis of e-DNA: the genetic traces left behind in the environment by animals as they move through the water.