In 2016, Ben King and Craig Anderson founded Boxfish Research with the purpose of finding the best way to explore underwater environments.  Based out of New Zealand they describe themselves as “A bunch of enthusiastic kiwi explorers, divers, engineers & software developers with a passion for pushing the boundaries of what is believed to be possible!  Because of our wide range of expertise in-house – it has allowed us to be the world leaders in underwater vision technology.”  They have accomplished this with the design of a unique underwater drone.

The drone they have built is called the Boxfish ROV, and it is changing the world of marine research.  According the the specs on their website the drone is a “Lightweight design, which offers easy deployment and operation with a crew of just two, from virtually any small boat without the need for further equipment.  At just 23kg, it is easy to launch and recover by hand and operates down to 300m with an option to go to 1000m and beyond.  Its built-in ultra-wide-angle navigation cameras, offer unprecedented surround visibility and gives the pilot excellent situational awareness. This coupled with the auto-stabilization system and pilot assist features, make piloting the ROV a breeze.  Should an unexpected disaster strike, the ROV has a fault-tolerant design allowing it to continue to operate with several fouled thrusters. Additionally, if all communications are lost, it will automatically return to the surface under its own power.” 

The Boxfish is perfectly designed to explore parts of the ocean inaccessible by humans.  It has 8 vectored thrusters that point in different directions to allow for easy maneuverability in changing currents.  It’s battery can run for up to 18 hours.  Each of the 2 lights on the sides of the camera are 8,500-lumen lights that can be dimmed if needed, an essential element for the varying levels of light and visibility in different underwater environments.  The camera “delivers tack-sharp, uncompressed 4K video, and the only vehicle of its kind to delivery nero-zero latency 4K video.”  And the results are stunning.

The Boxfish crew spent 5 weeks in the Antarctic capturing images of sea life the likes of which had never been seen.  Being able to explore these waters  have been notoriously difficult.  With temperatures ranging from -10 to -60 degrees Celsius, strong currents, and limited visibility from icebergs and lack of light, the most human divers can explore is around 30m.  The Boxfish can reach depths of 1000m and with it’s 4K camera and superior lighting, the Antarctic waters can finally be seen.

For Antarctic marine biologist Regina Eisert, the Boxfish is just the tool she need to aid in her research.  She said, “It’s just that really stunning difference between a barren surface, which is almost devoid of life as we know, and the incredible diversity and the incredible richness of life below it.”  Some of the amazing footage the Boxfish captured was of giant sea spiders, comb jelly, crocodile ice fish, penguins, type C killer and Minke whales.  King and Eisert were beyond pleased with the results.  Mr King said, “Our goal was basically to get the ROV out in the field and use it as much as possible and capture the most stunning footage we possibly could. In addition, we wanted to get field experience in such an extreme environment with our equipment.  We exceeded all expectations on all fronts.”

With the success the Boxfish had in Antarctica King is already hoping to go back.  There is so much to learn about Antarctica from sea creatures, to the ice shelf and more.  All areas that the Boxfish is perfectly equipped to explore.