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Underwater Robots Clean Up Marine Debris on the Seafoor ROVs Used to Identify and Retrieve Pollution, Derelict Fishing Gear By Rachael Z. Miller An image from the Starfsh side scan sonar of a shipwreck with an active trap line along the side and some potential derelict traps (singles) along the bottom of the image. (Photo credit: Rozalia Project for a Clean Ocean) M arine debris is a problem found everywhere from coasts to rivers to lakes and into the center of the gyres. This man-made debris can take decades or centuries to degrade, and even then, material such as plastic may never fully degrade in the marine environment, only break up into smaller and smaller pieces. This persistent material entangles and strangles marine life, transports alien and invasive species among ecosystems, pollutes beaches, fouls propellers, and has now been found, through ingestion by creatures low on the food chain, to transfer persistent organic pollutants into the human food chain through biomagnifcation. The majority of marine debris comes from land rather than ships. While much of it is due to carelessness and runoff, extreme weather and geologic events, such as the tsunami off the 58 st / DECEMBER 2012 coast of Japan and Hurricane Sandy along the Northeast U.S., have made signifcant contributions to the amount of debris drifting with ocean currents and sitting on the seafoor. Debris poses threats to shipping and the safety of people onshore. Rozalia Project for a Clean Ocean's mission is to use technology to fnd and remove marine trash and debris from the surface to the seafoor without having to resort to potentially damaging methods such as grappling (dragging hooks along the seafoor to grab debris). The project also employs towed and hand-held surface nets, as well as shoreline walks. Cleanup Equipment In terms of the equipment, Rozalia Project requires portability and a small footprint for the control station, as well www.sea-technology.com