There is a growing need for marine biodiversity baseline and monitoring data to assess ocean ecosystem health, especially in the deep sea, where data are notoriously sparse. Baited cameras are a biological observing method especially useful in the deep ocean to estimate relative abundances of scavenging fishes and invertebrates. The National Geographic Society Exploration Technology Lab developed an autonomous benthic lander platform with a baited camera system to conduct stationary video surveys of deep-sea megafauna. The first-generation landers were capable of sampling to full ocean depth, however, the form factor, power requirements, and cost of the system limited deployment opportunities. Therefore, a miniaturized version (76 cm × 76 cm × 36 cm, 18 kg in air) was developed to provide a cost-effective method to observe ocean life to 6000 m depth. Here, we detail this next-generation deep-sea camera system, including the structural design, scientific payload, and the procedures for deployment. We provide an overview of NGS deep-sea camera system deployments over the past decade with a focus on the performance improvements of the next-generation system, which began field operations in 2017 and have performed 264 deployments. We present example imagery and discuss the strengths and limitations of the instrument in the context of existing complementary survey methods, and for use in down-stream data products. The key operational advantages of this new instrument are spatial flexibility and cost-efficiency. The instrument can be hand-deployed by a single operator from a small craft concurrent with other shipboard operations. The main limitation of the system is battery power, which allows for 6 h of continuous recording, and takes up to 8 h to recharge between deployments. Like many baited-camera methods, this instrument is specialized to measure the relative abundance of mobile megafauna that are attracted to bait, which results in a stochastic snapshot of the species at the deployment location and time. The small size and ease of deployment of this next-generation camera system allows for increased sample replication on expeditions, and presents a path forward to advance cost-effective biological observing and sustained monitoring in the deep ocean.

中文翻译：

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国家地理学会深海相机系统：一种促进深海生物多样性观测的低成本远程视频调查仪器

越来越需要海洋生物多样性基线和监测数据来评估海洋生态系统的健康状况，尤其是在深海，那里的数据是出了名的稀少。诱饵相机是一种生物观察方法，在深海中特别有用，可以估计食腐鱼类和无脊椎动物的相对丰度。国家地理学会探索技术实验室开发了一个带有诱饵相机系统的自主底栖着陆器平台，用于对深海巨型动物进行静态视频调查。第一代着陆器能够对整个海洋深度进行采样，但是，系统的外形、功率要求和成本限制了部署机会。因此，小型化版本（76 cm × 76 cm × 36 cm，18 kg in air) 的开发目的是提供一种经济有效的方法来观察 6000 m 深度的海洋生物。在这里，我们详细介绍了这个下一代深海相机系统，包括结构设计、科学有效载荷和部署程序。我们概述了过去十年 NGS 深海相机系统的部署情况，重点介绍了下一代系统的性能改进，该系统于 2017 年开始现场操作并已执行 264 次部署。我们展示了示例图像，并在现有补充调查方法的背景下讨论了该工具的优势和局限性，并在下游数据产品中使用。这种新仪器的主要操作优势是空间灵活性和成本效益。该仪器可以由一个操作员从一艘小型船上手动部署，同时进行其他船上操作。该系统的主要限制是电池电量，它允许连续记录 6 小时，并且在两次部署之间需要长达 8 小时的充电时间。与许多诱饵相机方法一样，该仪器专门用于测量被诱饵吸引的移动巨型动物的相对丰度，从而在部署地点和时间生成物种的随机快照。这种下一代相机系统的小尺寸和易于部署允许增加探险中的样本复制，并为推进深海中具有成本效益的生物观测和持续监测提供了一条前进的道路。这允许连续录制 6 小时，并且在两次部署之间需要长达 8 小时的充电时间。与许多诱饵相机方法一样，该仪器专门用于测量被诱饵吸引的移动巨型动物的相对丰度，从而在部署地点和时间生成物种的随机快照。这种下一代相机系统的小尺寸和易于部署允许增加探险中的样本复制，并为推进深海中具有成本效益的生物观测和持续监测提供了一条前进的道路。这允许连续录制 6 小时，并且在两次部署之间需要长达 8 小时的充电时间。与许多诱饵相机方法一样，该仪器专门用于测量被诱饵吸引的移动巨型动物的相对丰度，从而在部署地点和时间生成物种的随机快照。这种下一代相机系统的小尺寸和易于部署允许增加探险中的样本复制，并为推进深海中具有成本效益的生物观测和持续监测提供了一条前进的道路。这导致在部署位置和时间的物种的随机快照。这种下一代相机系统的小尺寸和易于部署允许增加探险中的样本复制，并为推进深海中具有成本效益的生物观测和持续监测提供了一条前进的道路。这导致在部署位置和时间的物种的随机快照。这种下一代相机系统的小尺寸和易于部署允许增加探险中的样本复制，并为推进深海中具有成本效益的生物观测和持续监测提供了一条前进的道路。