The Ocean Tracking Network (OTN) plans to deploy the Saab Seaeye Falcon underwater robotic vehicle to recover acoustic tracking receivers missing from deployment sites in oceans around the world.
The work will be conducted in the waters of the Northwest Atlantic, the test hub of OTN and a hotspot for Atlantic ocean tracking research.
During their time underwater, up to 5% of receivers may pose recovery problems, either due to equipment failure, biofouling, or extreme environmental conditions that move the stations away from their deployment coordinates. This leaves valuable equipment and data stranded on the ocean floor, the company explained.
Primarily, the Falcon will be used as a means to recover the lost stations but it is also expected to serve the broader Dalhousie ocean science community as part of the Dalhousie Glider Group.