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Robots as vectors for marine invasions: best practices for minimizing transmission of invasive species via observation-class ROVs.
Thaler, Andrew David Freitag, Amy Bergman, Erika Fretz, Dominik Saleu, William
Thaler, Andrew David
Freitag, Amy
Bergman, Erika
Fretz, Dominik
Saleu, William
Abstract
Remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) present a potential risk for the transmission of invasive species. This is particularly the case for small, low-cost microROVs that can be easily transported among ecosystems and, if not properly cleaned and treated, may introduce novel species into new regions. Here we present a set of 5 best-practice guidelines to reduce the risk of marine invasive species introduction for microROV operators. These guidelines include: educating ROV users about the causes and potential harm of species invasion; visually inspecting ROVs prior to and at the conclusion of each dive; rinsing ROVs in sterile freshwater following each dive; washing ROVs in a mild bleach (or other sanitizing agent) solution before moving between discrete geographic regions or ecosystems; and minimizing transport between ecosystems. We also provide a checklist that microROV users can incorporate into their pre- and post-dive maintenance routine.
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2015-01-01
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robots.pdf
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Keywords
Fisheries Science Peer-Reviewed Articles, microROV, invasive species, robots, conservation, OpenROV
Citation
Thaler, A. D., Freitag, A., Bergman, E., Fretz, D. and Saleu, W. 2015. Robots as vectors
for marine invasions: best practices for minimizing transmission of invasive species via observation-class
ROVs. Tropical Conservation Science Vol. 8 (3): 711-717. Available online:
www.tropicalconservationscience.org
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Virginia Institute of Marine Science
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1177/194008291500800308