Explore the Deep Sea
Tools & Techniques
Hot quotes
- Often the scenes [from TowCam movies] make you feel as if you are viewing the surface of another planet. (Kristen Kusek, InterRidge)
- TowCam is a relatively inexpensive and easy-to-maintain way to take pictures of the seafloor…there's no other system like it…it's low cost but productive, and [complements] other instruments. (Dan Fornari, WHOI)
Watching the progress of TowCam from the ship.
Can be used to photograph the seafloor thousands of meters below the ocean's surface.
TowCam
TowCam is an amazing piece of scientific equipment. As its name suggests, it is essentially a camera that is towed behind the ship, photographing the seafloor. But this simple description belies its sophisticated nature: it can take rock and water samples as well as photographs. And the skills needed to operate it are pretty sophisticated too. A game—like joystick and multiple computer screens are involved, so experiencing a TowCam run is a bit like being inside an action-packed video game.
TowCam vital statistics
- Digital deep-sea camera and rock coring system
- Built in 2002 to provide rapid-response imaging and sampling capability
- Made of stainless steel; large sail area of the "tail" provides towing stability
- Powered by four lead-acid batteries
- Useable on many ships (any vessel with a standard winch and cable)
- Towed (by the ship) about 5-7 meters above the seafloor
- Carries bottles for taking water samples ("Niskin" bottles) and equipment for coring rocks
- Can snap about 1800 pictures per 5 hour run—about one every 10 seconds
TowCam movies bring seafloor to life
When photos from TowCam are viewed rapidly in sequence, it's a bit like watching a movie. You might see river-like lava flows, or sediment-laden lava spots making it look like the seafloor needs a good vacuum sweep, or yellowish splotches of sulfide coloring areas of vent fluid flow. Some pictures are of animals: a white anemone sitting by itself on the edge of a cliff face; the gangly arms of a soft coral whipping in the current and siphoning what it needs to live; a scattering of white tubeworms; even brilliant orange anemones that make you wonder why they are so colorful in the permanent darkness of the deep sea.
