Teens4oceans Aquarius Reef Base Survey

Teens4Oceans (T4O) is a coalition of students, scientists, and non-profit organizations whose mission is to increase our understanding of America's ocean heritage through student-driven research and conservation. Teens4oceans's goal is to empower our next generation to become impassioned stewards for their oceans through science research, inquiry-based learning, and philanthropic initiatives.

In addition to working with schools around the nation to identify problems and research questions associated with local watersheds and coastal marine ecosystems, T4O helps students gain meaningful experiences in the field to address their research and find solutions to identified problems. The organization also designs, deploys and maintains science nodes, comprised of robotic underwater cameras and data acquisition systems in large marine ecosystems unique to the United States. The goal is to allow young students, and the public, to appreciate the rich diversity of organisms and habitats that make up our waterways and coastal systems.

T4O is excited to work with the University of North Carolina Wilmington's Aquarius Reef Base to deploy Reef Cams on the Undersea Habitat at Key Largo, Florida. Students from Kent Denver School formed a T4O crew and surveyed the Aquarius Habitat and surrounding reef on December 16th and 17th of December 2010. Examining the current structural infrastructure will allow the students to design two camera systems that will hopefully be deployed early in the New Year. The Aquarius Habitat offers a unique opportunity for Teens4oceans, as four key elements exist at the research facility that have limited the deployment of a camera on a deep-water reef: security, high-bandwidth network, power, and regular maintenance visits.

In addition to streaming high-definition video from the structure 24/7 anywhere within the local area network, including at the Eco-Discovery Center in Key West and the Key Largo NOAA facility, Teens4oceans will work with its partners to disseminate the content around the nation. The group will build user-generated content and interpretive materials to divulge the beauty and wonder of America's only living reef.

Category:

Education

Tags:

• Teens4oceans
• Aquarius
• Reef
• Base
• NOAA