Testing of 360-Degree Imaging Technologies for Improved Animal Detection around Tidal Energy Installations

The research goal was to conduct a field study to test the performance of a new imaging camera system mounted on a floating tidal platform deployed in Grand Passage, Bay of Fundy.  Field testing featured testing of different camera mount locations on the platform in order to optimize field-of-view, maximize ambient light conditions, and importantly, to minimize confounding factors such as bubbles, vibration and turbidity in the upper 15 m of the water column.  In addition, the prototype 360 camera was mounted adjacent to an ARIS Explorer 300 acoustic camera to draw comparisons on performance.