Back on the fishing vessel, the ROV continues to look for Tanner crabs. After a dry spell, it hits pay dirt. First one, then another, then three, sometimes four crab are spotted at a time. Adult male crabs the size of serving platters are easily distinguished by their jagged features and huge claws. They scurry sideways, spider-like, as the ROV passes.
Female crabs are smaller, with smooth, round shells.
They lie half-buried in the mud, their tiny eyes reflecting the camera's light. Researchers used a camera attached to a remotely operated underwater vehicle, called an ROV, to observe crabs in their natural habitat 500 feet beneath the surface of Chiniak Bay, on Alaska's Kodiak Island. Fairbanks West Coast National Undersea Research Center. Stevens has come to Chiniak Bay twice a week each spring since 1991, dragging the camera-equipped ROV along the bottom to see what the crab are up to. Most of the crabs he sees this time of year are females, gathered together in huge mounds.