Investigating Deep-Sea Organisms
Plankton Net Trapping System
Collecting Organisms from Deep Sea
Marine organisms are collected in sample bottles in a size of a 4-liter-plastic bottle. The sample bottles are fixed in the edge of the plankton net of several meters long. The net can be handled on a ship to collect samples at any depth of the ocean. In addition, a high-vision camera can be installed to the net to shoot photographs of fishes, squids or planktons.
Slurp Gun (Suction sampler for deep-sea animals)
Capturing Deep-Sea Organisms
The slurp gun is a suction sampler for deep-sea animals that is installed to research vessels. It vacuums up any animals together with seawater through an 8-cm diameter hosepipe. The animals are placed in 6 bottles in a multiple-canister repository (see the photograph). A mesh of each bottle permits drainage of seawater but trapping the animals.
High-Vision Camera
Shooting Deep-Sea Organisms using a High-Vision Camera
The 3,000 m-class remotely-operated vehicle "HYPER-DOLPHIN" is equipped with ultra-sensitive, high-vision cameras that were developed jointly with NHK for the purpose of deep-sea researches. The system makes it possible to observe living organisms in situ for high quality, and have revealed their morphology and ecology, which are hardly studied in samples trapped in plankton nets. It is particularly useful to identify species of very fragile organisms such as jellyfish based on observation of body structures or sharp tentacles.
Visual Plankton Recorder (VPR)
Observing Microplankton using an Underwater Microscope
The VPR is a device developed for microscopic observation of deep-sea living organisms. It consists of an underwater microscope and a digital camera. The device allows us to shoot color images of planktons or marine snow at a high magnification.
