Overview

Alaska CamSled is a towed benthic imaging tool designed specifically to collect habitat and spatial distribution data for use in assessing weathervane scallop abundance.

CamSled carries a 1600x1200 12-bit per channel color camera that records five still images per second while moving across the ocean floor at approximately four knots. Each image is "flash frozen" by six onboard, camera synchronized, strobe lights. In addition to images, CamSled also carries instruments to record pressure, depth, temperature, salinity, sled altitude (above bottom), tilt and roll, and a forward-scanning sonar that is used for collision avoidance.