The waters of the Auau Channel, located between and protected by the islands of Maui, Lanai, Molokai, and Kahoolawe to the east, west, north, and south respectively, is bounded by the latitudes 20.983 and 20.733 and the longitudes -156.633
and -156.858. Topography of the channel consists of solution basins and rims (ridges), sediment plains and reef
pinnacles on the channel floor, which were subaerially exposed during late Quaternary lowstands of sea level.
Holocene reef growth occurs as a thin veneer on topographic highs in the Channel. The Channel reaches depths of
140 m, however, the majority of the seafloor is between 55 m and 100 m deep. The Auau Channel has been documented to
include abundant coral reefs at these depths, which along with algae and other organsims found there, collectively form mesophotic coral ecosystems.
Optical validation data were collected using HURL's RCV-150 remotely operated vehicle (ROV), deployed during nighttime hours
usually between 1900 and 2300 (Hawaii time).
Equipment description: The RCV-150 system consists of a remotely operated vehicle with a color analog video camera, two parallel
lasers for scale, and six 250 W lamps. This was deployed from the HURL ship, R/V Ka'imikai-o-Kanaloa. A heavy cage was deployed
off the ship's J-frame to whic the ROV was tethered, using a dedicated winch. The ROV operators maintain the ROV, or at least
the glow from its lights, within sight of a downward-looking video camera on the cage. This keeps the horizontal distance between
the ROV and the cage within 15 m for most deployments. Lighting mounted on the base of the cage provided additional illumination to the ROV.
Name & address of person collecting data:
John Rooney
NOAA IRC
NMFS/PIFSC/CRED
1845 WASP Blvd., Building 176
Honolulu, HI 96818
Data Files: Video data were recorded onto digital video media and transcribed on to DVD.
Resource Description: Digital video imagery that is geo-referenced to navigation files.