Richmond-based firm sending robot on undersea missions By Mike Taugher, Contra Costa Times

The images transmitted from the underwater robot show a seafloor near the Farallon Islands exploding with life in vibrant purple, red, green and orange.

"Every square inch, other than sand, is completely covered," said Dirk Rosen, president of the Richmond-based nonprofit that built and guides the remote-operated vehicle "Beagle."

"It's spectacular how much light you have at that depth," he added.

No mud or bare rock come into view as soft corals, anemones, sponges, sea cucumbers, sea squirts and the occasional rock fish pass beneath the ROV "flying" inches above the surface of the rocky reef, the temperate zones' equivalent of coral reefs in the tropics.

"Most Californians don't think about how colorful and vibrant the rocky reefs are," said James Lindholm, director of the Institute for Applied Marine Ecology at Cal State Monterey Bay.

"The ROV, because of its versatility and ability to stay down for long periods of time, gives us an opportunity to collect a lot of data," Lindholm said.

This month, Rosen's team finished the first round of video and still-camera surveys of newly created marine protected zones from the San Francisco Peninsula north to Mendocino County.

The surveys in July resulted in 142 hours of video and about 8,600 still photographs, along with other information.

They want to capture what these underwater regions look like now so that scientists several years from now, or longer, can return and see what has changed as a result of the new marine reserves and other protected areas.

"You have all these laws and restrictions, so you want to make sure it's working, and if it's not you make adjustments," said Rosen, who ran a

company that built and operated remote operated vehicles before starting up MARE, or Marine Applied Research & Exploration, a nonprofit organization at Point Richmond.

Rosen recently captured the video while sitting in the control van mounted on the deck of a fishing vessel during the survey.

"When the Channel Islands marine protected areas went into being (in 2003), I began asking the question: Is anybody monitoring the deep water?" Rosen said.

Scuba divers were monitoring upper zones, but it is impractical to send them deeper than 60 or 80 feet.

The reef off the Farallones was about 150 feet deep; the Beagle can descend to 3,000 feet. And, Lindholm said, the hours and hours of video will give researchers in the future plenty to investigate as they look for environmental changes. "I expected it to be beautiful," said Donna Kline, a research associate at the Institute for Applied Marine Ecology at Cal State Monterey Bay. "It was more beautiful than expected."

Beginning in May, about 11 percent of state waters within three miles of the north central coast, between the Peninsula and Mendocino County, was made off limits to fishing or any other activity — such as crabbing or abalone diving — that results in taking marine resources. Another 9 percent was designated as conservation areas or other classifications where fishing is permitted but is more tightly regulated than before.

New reserves and other marine protected areas are due for the coast off Mendocino and further north by the end of the year.

Another network of reserves and conservation areas in the Bay is under consideration.

DOE will be exhibiting at the upcoming Underwater Intervention Show in New Orleans Louisiana January 24th to the 26th,2012

DOE will be exhibiting at the upcoming Underwater Intervention Show in New Orleans Louisiana January 24th to the 26th. On display will be the T4N vehicle. The T4N Triggerfish is a rapid deployment high performance ROV system, providing a powerful overall perfor­mance envelope and ver­satility compared to other vehicles of its class.

"Also on display will be the new S5N ROV with Tecnadyne 1HP thrusters. The S5N is a portable high performance ROV sys­tem, combining superior power, telemetry and payload with ease of use, ruggedness and reliability— providing a powerful overall perfor­mance envelope and versatility compared to other vehicles of its class. It has five high performance thrusters — four vectored, and one vertical.

"Stop by our booth for detailed information on any of our Systems. Booth Number 836