Marine science equipment question

[Scuba_18]

I am doing a project on a teleost fish that nests in rubble and shipwrecks(round goby) in the great lakes. I am in need of an underwater digital camera that is small that can go inside the nest with a light source. I am thinking like an endoscope type thing or something that looks like a light canister that will have leds and camera so that it is thin enough to enter the nests.

My question is does anyone have any idea where to find a piece of equipment like that? Company and cost.

thanks
eric misener
www.uwindsor.ca/goby

 

[M_Bipartitus]

I'm not sure about commercially available products, but you could consider a fiber optic setup with a camera in a sealed enclosure. This may require some custom optics, but is possible. You may consider asking a UW Enclosure manufacturer.

 

[archman]

Unfortunately, most underwater scientific gear is custom-built by marine techs. The electronic stuff you're describing falls very much under that category. It is going to be very expensive to manufacture, unless you build it yourself from off-the-shelf components.

The only endoscope-type gear I've heard being used is from that german? dude who's been sticking it inside coral bioherms and quantifying cryptic biomass. I lost my reference to him, dang. Oh wait, maybe this is him.
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2001/11/1107_keyholecoral.html

Good luck!

 

[Scuba_18]

Thanks for the great replies, i am thinking that i will use a high resolution drop camera that is small and has it's own lighting. I have found some for a lot less than the Cavecam type system, but thanks for your help.
eric

 

[archman]

Thanks for the great replies, i am thinking that i will use a high resolution drop camera that is small and has it's own lighting. I have found some for a lot less than the Cavecam type system, but thanks for your help.
eric

Can you give us a link to that? Spread the knowledge. Is it one of those infrared torpedo-shaped thingies attached to a cable?

 

[Scuba_18]

www.splashcam.com
www.seaviewer.com
there are also many other types available in black and white or colour. It all is based on a 'drop camera' basis. If you google underwater drop camera. you get lots of hits.
they are a lot less technical than the cavecam but of the same basic platform.
thanks
eric misener

 

[archman]

Thanks for the links! I used to have an old black-and-white model years ago, but I found it so bloody awkward I gave the whole system away to an undergraduate. The TV screen couldn't be seen in daylight, there was no digital capture method, I couldn't control where the camera went very well... I hated that thing.

It seems that the technology is improving now.

For your project, how's about mating a diver communication system to one of these things? You and a student or co-worker could sit on the boat watching the image, while a diver sticks the probe in the fish nests. With a diver comm system between the diver and the boat, you could coach the diver on exact camera placement as the images come in.

A regulator-based comm system isn't too expensive. I'm sure a surface unit isn't either. If you posted a question in the scuba equipment forums, the tech divers would direct you to the best information.

 

[Scuba_18]

http://bellamare-us.com/
This is the company that I ended up going with. I went with their mini-reef cam with a 100GB harddrive. The entire thing goes down with the diver and you can see the item you are taping. I like it because as the diver I don't have to worry about cables going to the surface. I have brochures but they are too big to attach to the message, they are in pdf if anyone is interested (email or pm). They were great to work with, great communication. I will post pics when item is recieved.
thanks
eric misener
gobyresearch@gmail.com
www.uwindsor.ca/goby

 

[archman]

How much does it cost?

 

[Scuba_18]

The cost is about $3000 US but it has the 100Gb harddrive and the fact that I don't have to worry about cables going to the surface. The cost is a little more than the ones with the surface recorder but then you have to add the cost of the surface digital data recorder and everything else. I think that it is a great deal and would suggest the company to anyone. As of right now I am in the process of the paperwork(damn universities) and then when I recieve it will post pics.
thanks
eric