An interesting article on marine technology by a young team of authors from the Institute of Oceanology of the Russian Academy of Sciences was published in the prestigious and iconic journal Oceanography of the Oceanographic Society of the United States (official magazine of The Oceanography Society).

Anisimov I., Lesin A., Muravya V., Zalota A., Zalota M. Videomodule towed system: Acquisition and analysis of video imaging data for benthic surveys // Oceanography, 2025, Volume 38, No. 1, Pages 96 - 99, (Supplement 1)   DOI:10.5670/oceanog.2025e114

In Frontiers in Ocean Observing: Marine Protected Areas, Western Boundary Currents, and the Deep Sea. E.S. Kappel, V. Cullen, G. Coward, I.C.A. da Silveira, C. Edwards, P. Heimbach, T. Morris, H. Pillar, M. Roughan, and J. Wilkin, eds

Annotation

The article discusses the development and application of the towed underwater vehicle Videomodule, created at the Institute of Oceanology of the Russian Academy of Sciences for bottom surface studies at depths of up to 6000 m. The vehicle is equipped with a video camera, a photo camera, a sonar, and auxiliary sensors, which allows the vehicle to be used for a wide range of tasks. The paper focuses on biological research. The methods used for processing and analyzing video images are described, including correction of perspective distortions, as well as software for accurately measuring the sizes of organisms. The Videomodule was used, in particular, to study the distribution of the invasive snow crab species in the Kara Sea, which made it possible to accurately estimate the population density and size structure over long-term dynamics. The development is aimed at improving the accuracy and comparability of quantitative analysis of marine organisms under various shooting conditions.