Title:

A Platform Design for the Analysis of the Distribution and Abundance of Fish and Investigate the Relation to Seabirds

The purpose of this project was to design a platform to observe the upper part of the water column. The platform is a buoyancy engine, which allows the sonar to look upwards, rather than downwards. Sonars are generally mounted to vessels, however, due to the cone shape, the upper portion of the water is often overlooked. This acoustic system will be able to fill the gap that sonars omit. The upper part of the ocean is very crucial to observe, as many interactions and processes take places such as looking at other marine species, air-sea gas exchange, oil plumes, pollution, ocean circulation, and vertical mixing. The inspiration of the project is to look at the interaction between seabirds and its prey. This buoyancy engine is able to move vertically due to the change in volume. The objectives of this platform are to sink and resurface, retrieve data and locate fish, and sink to a depth of approximately 15 meters. Locating schools of fish and when are important to understand the sea-bird fish interaction. The sonar is one of many instruments that could be attached.

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