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Norbert Englebert, a marine biologist with the XL Catlin Seaview Survey explores the deep reef corals. Norbert’s expertise is in the area of coral reproduction and physiology. His responsibilities lie with monitoring quadrats, sensory equipment and Diver Propulsion Vehicles (DPVs). His main research interest is how these deep corals manage to survive and reproduce under extreme low-light conditions. The deep reef team explored the coral down to a depth of 40 metres and had special training and equipment to be able to work this deep.

The deep reef team found similar forms of life to the shallower reef systems. This sea fan is closely related to corals and from the same phylum Cnidaria. It is a colonial animal composed of many separate polyps joined together in this large structure. The sea fan's shape is ideal for catching plankton that come past on the ocean current.

Corals on the deep reef need to adapt to the lower light conditions. Darker colours absorb more of the available light, providing the corals with more energy from the photosynthetic algae in their tissue. These corals are also shaped like plates to capture as much sunlight as possible.

This is the vessel used by the Deep Reef Survey team on the Great Barrier Reef. You can see all the team standing along the side. During the surveys, the teams will use a variety of different vessels along different parts of the reef around the world. This is because it is important to have boat captains and crew who are familiar with the different areas that the teams are exploring. The boat crews can use their local knowledge to keep the team safe and get them to the best areas for science.

ROV stands for remotely operated vehicle and is an underwater robot connected to the surface vessel. The ROV is operated from these terminals on board the Deep Reef Survey vessel. It's a little like using a remote controlled vehicle. The images that are displayed are a live feed from the ROV.

Dr Pim Bongaerts reviews the footage from the ROV back in his office on Heron Island. Using technology is helpful because it makes data collection easier, but it also helps the data analysis stage as well. Video footage of these sharks can be analysed at leisure and also shared with other scientists around the world.

Using a ROV (Remotely Operated Vehicle) is not as easy as just throwing it over the side of the survey boat. There are a number of different factors that need to be taken into account. The ROV is attached to the boat by a line that serves four purposes. It enables the ROV to be retrieved by the team after a dive. The line also contains wires that deliver power to the ROV. It contains the video feed coming live from the ROV. Last, it means that the ROV can be remote controlled by the team on the boat.

As the ROV is attached to the boat, it's important that the boat is moored or anchored, so that the line doesn't snap. On larger research ships, a system known as 'dynamic positioning' is used. This is like having little thrusters that keep the ship in a constant position and is useful in areas where it is too deep to anchor.

The ROV is used by the Deep Reef team in a variety of ways. In this photo, you can see the lights on the ROV, which mean that the ROV operators can see what they are doing. There is also a mechanical grabber to collect physical coral specimens and a camera to record the habitat on the deeper parts of the reef.

The deep reef team used a variety of tools to explore the reef. The scientists examined the reef at depths of 10 metres and 40 metres using a combination of divers and the ROV. Below 40 metres, it is hard for divers to operate because of the pressure and the team used the ROV to survey the reef down to a depth of 125 metres.