applied to
the ship's screws if necessary to reduce the ship's motion. The TOAD was lowered slowly to the bottom by the deck
crew using a capstan. The operator monitored a live video feed from the camera and began recording data on a video
tape recorder. When the camera reached bottom the deck crew was notified by radio to stop lowering. The operator
continued to monitor the vehicle and provided commands to raise or lower it to keep the camera just above the bottom.
Equipment Description: The TOAD was deployed from the lower arm of the vessel's port side J-frame. The TOAD is a
camera sled based on the Guildline MiniBat model 8820 tow body. The frame has been extensively modified from
its original configuration and was equipped with an ROS model 54-00100-13 color underwatervideo camera as the
primary data collection instrument. The ROS camera was mounted to point at approximately a 45 degree angle
toward the seafloor. A Deep Sea Power and Light model 2050 MultiSeaCam low-light color video camera was also mounted
on the sled and aimed straight ahead. The signal from this camera was fed to a second video monitor to provide
warning of underwater obstructions the sled might be headed for. Illumination was provided by two 500 W DeepSea
Power & Light Multi-SeaLite model 1050 underwater lights mounted on the original sled frame. The lights were located
near the base and each side of the sled to provide the maximum possible horizontal distance from the ROS camera.
Cable between the sled and the surface consisted of a underwater electrical cable (cable 1, blue in color)