Study of Sediment in Hong Kong Waters for Heavy Metals and Bacteria using an ROV

Abstract:

Previous studies have shown that there are high levels of cadmium, lead and mercury in sediment along the shoreline in Victoria Harbor, Hong Kong. This study will confirm those numbers and are a part of a longitudinal study that shows the stability of these metals in the sediment soil over several years. These results will also be combined with other students conducting similar research along other shorelines of Hong Kong Island. Of equal interest is the initial research on the bacteria communities living in these sediment waters near shorelines. These bacteria will be tested with different functional assays.

In this research study, the sediment samples around Hong Kong will be collected using an underwater Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV). These ROVs are used extensively all over the world for ocean and freshwater applications. The first ROV ever built was the Poodle made in 1953 by Dimitri Rebikoff, a French pioneer in dive equipment and photography (bluerobotics.com). However in the 1960s, this prototype was then further advanced by the US Navy, which could then perform deep-sea rescue operations and recovery. After that, ROVs have been successful in many different tasks and operations.

Overall there are a variety of advantages to using a ROV rather than a diver for this type of application. Without having an actual diver to do the operation, it is safer since the diver is at risk of being contaminated by the poisonous metals.

I feel that this project is relevant to many real life problems since water pollution is a huge problem. In addition, by doing this, I am part of a longitudinal study which will be beneficial since we could see whether there are changes in the sediment contamination levels in Hong Kong and by comparing Victoria harbor to other areas of Hong Kong.