 Onboard the sail training ship Tole Mour we put our trainee crew in the water whenever possible. We do this to see the amazing variety of life the Pacific Ocean has to offer and to explore first hand the subject we study in our marine biology classes. We are able to swim with fish and marine mammals and even observe the magnificence of bioluminescent organisms at night. But there is a whole realm that is just beyond our reach. Due to intense pressures and the great expense of traveling to deep-sea benthic regions, we are unable to access one of the largest habitats on the earth
With the addition of a Video Ray Pro 3 Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV), we can now safely explore what we have only been able to talk about. The controls are clear and simple, and setting up and maintaining the ROV takes very little time. The ROV is attached to the ship by a 150 ft tether and can be deployed, night or day, to explore the ocean in a dynamic, hands on way. And the Video Ray is an exciting experience for our trainee crew. Walking into the lab, where students operate the controls and view specimens on a large plasma screen, you would think that someone had switched on a Final Four basketball game.
Every time we deploy the ROV, we see something new. We have glimpsed Sea Pens (order Pennatulacea) Sunflower Stars (Pychnopodia helianthoides), market squid (Loligo opalescens) egg sacs, California scorpion fish (Scorpaena guttata), Short Spined Combfish (Zaniolepis frenatus) and many flat fish. With a quick tutorial any student is capable of operating the ROV and incapable of forgetting the experience.
 
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