Eye of the fjord: Slow TV beneath the surface

The camera rests at a depth of five metres, in a meadow of swaying eelgrass outside the Kristineberg Research Station. It is enclosed in a pyramid-shaped metal casing reminiscent of old-fashioned science fiction films, but the technology is state-of-the-art.

‘It's a special camera with two infrared lights that allows us to broadcast live around the clock without disturbing the animals that live down there,’ says Marko Wramén, communications officer at the research station and a dedicated diver.

Entertainment and research

This summer, the camera was lowered to the seabed after station manager Linus Hammar Perry became fascinated by the idea – something that could both benefit research and increase public interest in the sea. Recently, another camera was lowered even deeper, to just over 20 metres. It is also now broadcasting live.

The live broadcasts offer a spectacle from the sea's own world. Shore crabs glide by, a spider crab scuttles along on its long legs. Suddenly, the small fish flee when the ballan wrasse thunders in, and shortly afterwards you can see the trouts hunting over the eelgrass. When you least expect it, your field of vision is blocked by a starfish slowly crawling across the lens.

‘With Fjordens öga, we want to create new opportunities for research and education, while offering the public a relaxing – but also exciting – form of slow TV,’ says Marko Wramén.

"It's a way of drawing attention to the incredibly rich biotope that exists beneath the surface, while also contributing to greater commitment to preserving it. But there is also a clear research perspective.

Unexpected observations

Traditional marine biology often involves researchers collecting organisms for the laboratory – using nets, trawls or bottom scrapers. With the camera, however, it is possible to study the animals in their natural environment without disturbing them.

“With these cameras, we can sneak a peek at the animals, a bit like a nature filmmaker in their hide. As researchers, we can use the material to map which species are present – either by noting our own observations or with the help of AI-based image analysis, which is developing incredibly quickly right now.”

Image

Of course, there are limitations – the cameras only show a small section of the seabed – but the results have already been surprising.

In the first few months alone, we have seen several species that we thought were very rare here. These include sea bass and even a shoal of golden spiny dogfish – a Mediterranean fish that has previously only been observed on a few occasions in Sweden.

The sea horse surprised everyone

It is often viewers among the general public who make the most exciting discoveries. But the most spectacular one so far was made by the research station's own chef.

"She was sitting at home drinking coffee one evening and had the camera's live feed on the TV in the background. Suddenly, she saw something that looked like a needle – but something wasn't right. She filmed the screen and sent it to us, and the researchers were quickly able to confirm that it was indeed a seahorse," says Marko Wramén.

This was the first time a seahorse had been observed and filmed alive in the Swedish countryside. Previous finds have been dead specimens or ones that had become entangled in nets and the like.

A glimpse of our water planet

Marko Wramén believes that more cameras will soon appear on the seabed around the world, both for research purposes and to spark interest in the ocean.

‘We live on a water planet. The sea is our most important biotope, but most people have no connection to it. Through Fjordens öga, we can peek through the door to the magical underwater world – and invite more people to discover it,’ he says.

Watch the broadcasts  here:

The shallow camera (5 meter)

The deep camera (20 meter)

Text: Per Adolfsson

The text was first published in the magazine Havsutsikt