Adrian Glover, Nick Higgs, Phil Bagley, Ralph Carlsson, Andrew Davies, Kirsty Kemp, Kim Last, Karl Norling, Rutger Rosenberg, Karl-Anders Wallin, Björn Källström and Thomas Dahlgren

There have been very few studies of temporal processes at chemosynthetic ecosystems, even at relatively more accessible shallow water sites. Here we report the development and deployment of a simple cabled video observatory at ≈ 30 m water depth in Gullmarsfjorden, Sweden. The camera provides a live video feed to the internet of faunal activity in the experiments, which to date have included 5 separate whale-fall deployments. Our data suggest that the time to decomposition of small cetacean carcasses at shelf-depth settings is considerably slower than at deep-sea sites. We have also provided a new methodology for the deployment of low-cost live video observatories at up to 30 m water depth, which can be used both for research and outreach activities.

Published in Cahiers de Biologie Marine 51.

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Glover AG, Higgs ND, Bagley PM, Carlsson R, Davies AJ, Kemp KM, Last KS, Norling K, Rosenberg R, Wallin K-A, Källström B, Dahlgren TG (2010) “A live video observatory reveals temporal processes at a shelf-depth whale-fall” Cahiers de Biologie Marine 51: 375-381.