The full weight of the flying array with equipment attached was 30 kg.
Lasers were mounted onto the flying array to standardise the field of view, a necessary requirement in order to make species counts quantifiable.
The umbilical was secured to the tow rope using cable ties and duct tape between the flying array and the drop weight.
We would like to thank John Walker for his commitment to the project, and invaluable support for the development of this flying array, and Shane Petite for helping to develop its capabilities in extreme tidal conditions.
Programmes of device comparison are currently underway (using a Saab SeaEye Falcon ROV) to make sure samples taken using the flying array and ROVs are standardised and comparable, giving the complete monitoring package pre- and post-device deployment.
The aluminium frame of the flying array (Figure 1a) is a modification of the design detailed in Stevens (2003) [12], scaled up 1.5 times to house the extra bulk of the HD video and CTD (Conductivity-Temperature-Depth) equipment.
In this design, High Definition (HD) camera technology is mounted on a flying array which is towed behind a boat yet is almost a non-contact method of surveying the sea bed, so covers a large area with minimal damage.
The limitations of using a towed array are also discussed and the next stage of this work is proposed which involves ensuring the compatibility and comparability of the use of a HD video camera mounted on a flying array to one mounted on a Remote Operated Vehicle (ROV).
The array can be deployed from a small vessel in the arrangement shown in Figure 2. To reduce strain on the cable a 14 mm tow rope was used to take the strain of the flying array and the drop weight.
Stevens and Connolly [15] commented on the cost-effectiveness of the flying array video method (the precursor of the design described here) and concluded that it offered an order of magnitude cost-saving over conventional methods, as a result of the larger area covered per fieldwork day, lower crewing requirements, and the smaller survey vessel required.
