Malpelo: 36 Hour Camera

Photo © Fred Buyle

The team from MARbec (Marine Biodiversity, Exploitation and Conservation) is here to set their camera rig on the sea floor between 10-20 meters for 36 hours at a time. The footage from these cameras will allow them to identify species that exist in both daytime and nighttime environments (the lights from their camera rig attract many species in the night), and to cross reference the footage with the results they get from filtering for EDNA.

The camera rig itself weight 12kg and the team stabilizes it with 20kg of additional weight. The team has 2 cameras that record for 12 hours each. After setting the camera, they must return every 12 hours to switch it out with the other one, which has been charged. The final task is reviewing the footage carefully and noting each finding – a long task for sure, but quite exciting when they find footage they were hoping for.