DIY Fun: A Homemade Deep-towed Underwater Camera

An anonymous do-it-yourselfer who goes by the name of JavaMoose on Flickr built his own deep-towed underwater camera using PVC tubing, a color camera, and a black and white camera capable of seeing in the dark with infrared illumination. A 100-foot-long cable provides power to the cameras and connects them to an external video capture device and laptop, which allow real-time monitoring and recording of the underwater images. You can see a slideshow of the construction and sample videos of underwater critters recorded by the cameras: Initial Testing, Second Run, and The Feeding Frenzy! In The Feeding Frenzy, JavaMoose and his crew dropped bait into the water and managed to record a swarm of little fish around the color camera. The videos come complete with a clever selection of soundtracks to get you in the spirit. (PS: We'll gladly post his name if we ever find out his true identity.)