My name is Amemiya, a.k.a. Ameken, Tokyo Sea Life Park and I am the Breeding and Exhibit Section Manager. I am currently off the coast of Okinawa aboard the research vessel "Natsushima" of the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC). If you are wondering what JAMSTEC is, the name "Shinkai 6500" may ring a bell.　JAMSTEC is an organization that conducts oceanographic research using research vessels such as the Shinkai 6500.

This time, we are accompanying the "Hyper Dolphin" on a deep-sea survey around Okinawa. We will provide a voyage report from the site over the next several issues.

First, let me introduce Hyper Dolphin (pictured above). Hyper Dolphin is an unmanned ROV (Remotely Operated Vehicle). Instead, it is operated from the control room of the mother ship Natsushima. The control room is lined with monitors of various sizes, displaying high-definition images from cameras mounted on the hyperdolphins, digital meters, and other images necessary for maneuvering the vehicle. It looks like the control room of a spaceship in a science fiction movie (see photo below).

In the control room, there are three pilots, called "pilots," who are watching a monitor and controlling the aircraft with a joystick-like device, which at first glance looks like they are playing a video game. However, the skill of the pilots is truly craftsmanship!　They stop exactly at the target point, grab and move objects with their arms called manipulators, and sometimes even collect creatures, as smoothly as if they were moving a part of themselves.

Well, soon the hyperdolphins are about to dive into the depths of the ocean to 2,000 meters. It will be exciting to see what the world is like there!　We will report on the next voyage in our next issue.

Photo above: Hyper Dolphin
Photo below: Control room

*Photo courtesy of Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC)

Tokyo Sea Life Park Kentaro Amamiya, Breeding and Exhibits Section]

interpoint (interword separation) Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology
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(Jun 27, 2008)