Vessels and Vehicles
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R/V Western Flyer is a small water-plane area twin hull (SWATH) oceanographic research vessel measuring 35.6m long and 16.2m wide. It was designed and constructed for MBARI to serve as the support vessel for ROV Tiburon. Her missions include the Monterey Bay as well as extended cruises to Hawaii, Gulf of California and the Pacific Northwest. |
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R/V Point Lobos conducts daily missions in Monterey Bay about four days per week. She has also completed extended missions along the California coast. This 33.5m vessel mainly supports ROV Ventana, as well as hydrocasts, video transects, and deployment and recovery of scientific instruments. |
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R/V Zephyr is the primary support vessel for MBARI's Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) program. Donated in 2001 by the San Francisco Bar Pilots Association, this 26m vessel also maintains environmental moorings, collects time series data along the California Current, and supports scuba divers as they study near-shore habitats. |
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ROV Ventana is a hydraulic vehicle that was built for MBARI in 1988 by International Submarine Engineering. The specifications for Ventana were developed by David Packard and the original core group of scientists and engineers at MBARI. The vehicle can dive to 1500m and includes a standard suite of instruments, cameras, data collection sensors, a high definition camera, and animal collection devices. Since 1988, ROV Ventana has completed over 2500 dives. |
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ROV Tiburon is an electric vehicle with hydraulic capabilities. The toolsled packages are modular and can be changed for specific missions. The vehicle is equipped with high-resolution video cameras with zoom and pan/tilt, and fiber optic telemetry. Powerful electric thrusters combine precise control, high thrust levels and relatively quiet operational capabilities. Variable buoyancy system allows low disturbance operation at depths as deep as 4000m. Scientific sensors and data logging are integrated into the core vehicle system. |
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DMO operates the Dorado AUV (Autonomous Underwater Vehicle). The AUV is deployed weekly in the Monterey Bay for CTD and other midwater instrumentation. The AUV can be configured with modular sections to add battery capability and other scientific sensor options. |