Deploying ARMS in the Deep Reef

DROP researchers successfully deploy a deep-sea ARMS at 396 feet using their submersible.
(Trish Mace, Smithsonian Institution)

Deploying ARMS (Autonomous Reef Monitoring Structures) is tricky in the deep sea, where SCUBA divers can't place and secure them to the floor with their hands and a hammer. Researchers with DROP (Deep Reef Observation Project) had to redesign the methods for deploying and retreiving ARMS, using just the robotic arm and tools on their submersible. Here, the team successfully deployed a deep-sea ARMS at 396 feet.

Tags: Research vessels Smithsonian scientists