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Up to Blog Posts in Field work with Nature Live

Field work with Nature Live

2 Posts tagged with the rov tag
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The Museum has recently acquired a great bit of kit that allows us to complete our work in the Bahamas. It’s a remotely-operated vehicle that we lovingly call REX (short for Remotely-operated vehicle for Education and eXploration).

 

rov-REX-in-the-water.jpg

 

It has the ability to go to depths of 200 metres and we’ll be using it to retrieve the experiments that were laid down late last year. It has a robotic arm too and apparently if you can play XBox you can operate it pretty easily!

 

robot arm.jpg

 

The really special thing about REX is that it has a HD camera attached to it so we can film amazing footage of the sea and the life within it. It’s important for scientists to observe how animals behave in their natural environment, especially when it comes to creatures like jellyfish, as when you bring them up to the surface they look like amorphous blobs.

 

Like I’ve said before I’m really looking forward to seeing sharks and going by the video shot last year I won’t be disappointed!

 

1765 Views 0 Comments 2 References Permalink Tags: sharks, nature_live, field_work, science, rex, zoology, jellyfish, worm, coral, bahamas, rov, caribbean, osedax, rov_rex, robot, hd_camera, hd_footage
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Nick-Higgs.jpg

What do you study at the Museum?

I study animals that live on dead whale skeletons and how this affects the formation of whale fossils. I am particularly interested in the Osedax bone-eating worms!

 

What are you most excited about seeing on the trip?

I am really excited about seeing what kind of animals live in the deep water of the Bahamas. I grew up nearby and have always wondered what was living beyond the shallow water that I could reach while diving.

 

Where have you been previously on field work?

I have been to California, Japan and Sweden on field work before to study what happens to dead whales in these areas.

 

What is your least favourite thing about going on field work?

I’m really lucky be to able to travel to so many places as part of my job and I love it. But my least favourite thing is the preparation involved. Going to another country and bringing back samples involves a LOT of paperwork and planning, especially if you’re dealing with specially protected animals like whales.

 

Is anything worrying you about the trip?

I’m a little worried about not finding all of the experiments we prepared last time we were in the Bahamas. We dropped one very near an underwater cliff so let’s hope it didn’t fall down into the abyss!

 

What advice would you give to someone going on field work for the first time?

Remember that other people have different cultural backgrounds with different norms that you should respect. This is easy to forget when travelling to English speaking countries.

3235 Views 0 Comments 4 References Permalink Tags: new_species, fieldwork, fish, field_work, beach, fieldtrip, fossil, whale, boat, dive, worm, sand, water, bahamas, nick_higgs, rov, ocean, caribbean, sweden, whale_skeleton, japan, california


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