SQUIDCAM IV - NOW LIVE!!

[tonmo]

Edit - squidcam is offline, and won't be back anytime soon. Read this thread and the squidcam issues thread for the (unfortunate) details.
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Folks - before Dr. Steve O'Shea left town to tend to other business in the world of marine science (currently tending to recent pilot whale stranding incidents), he asked me to keep an eye on SquidCam and post an announcement when it went live. Please enjoy SquidCam IV - with great thanks to Steve and the staff at AUT EOS:
You might need to download the latest version of Java (free) to view SQUIDCAM (do so here http://java.com/en/download/inc/windows_new_ie.jsp)

SQUIDCAM at
http://www.aut.ac.nz/research/research-institutes/eos/whats-new/squidcam

Post comments and questions here. Steve also left me with a contact in his staff; I'll drop them a note and let them know this thread is here. If they don't get back to you, I'm sure Steve will when he returns.

More information about SquidCam here:

http://www.aut.ac.nz/research/research-institutes/eos/whats-new

 

[Steve O'Shea]

Oh dear, it's gone live and they haven't set the camera properly! Please folk, persevere and I'll get the system operational properly soon - including the lighting. Right now my priority had been to keep them alive by collecting sufficient food. Believe it or not there are over 200 squid in there right now, but they are small. We attended a whale stranding last week and during that time the water quality deteriorated a little (it doesn't take much with so many squid); it's a recirculating system with only a 100 litre sump. Even slight cloudiness in the water makes viewing difficult, but I cannot do a full water change or I'd lose everything in an hour or so.

I promise all that it will improve this week, considerably. I'll head into work shortly and attend to the basics to improve it ....

Most are about half the size of my thumbnail ... a new metric for squid; they're 2-3 weeks old, and hatched at a mantle length of ~ 3mm (total length 5-6 mm); they'll start growing rather quickly now because we're moving onto a larger prey type for them. Mortality in the tank is ~ 0% - I've lost 2 paralarvae since it began (one a spinner and the other to a mysid).

I see the pictures on the EOS 'what's new' site haven't appeared either .... everything conspires against me today; triage here we come!

 

[Steve O'Shea]

VASTLY improved now; just the water clarity issue to contend with, and a white (instead of yellow) light. By day's end it will be so much better!

 

[DWhatley]

Squid Cam Contest

Since the software allows us to take snaps of what we are seeing, I propose a photo contest to run through the life of the Cam.

After Steve stops messing with it, there is the ability to move the focus point and zoom in (to some extent). There is a camera button on the left to preserve a still (video game players are likely to do better catching a shot though). Before you attempt a capture, click on the camera and set your browser to always allow popups from this site. Once popups are allowed the single still will be poped-up in a new browser/tab. You can right click on the image to save it and then upload normally.

This one does not count as a submission but was one I took while Steve was mucking about with the focus.
Added a photo today
Added my SquidCam shot of the day

 

[tonmo]

It's really great - here's a pic I took. Camera control works quite well -- and there was no waiting. Pretty nice feature, Dr. O!

 

[lance]

great idea

lance

 

[Steve O'Shea]

You'll see changes in the lighting through the USA day; I've left a light on in our evening to allow your viewing, and then turn the main lights on our day (your afternoon/eve). There's not a lot I can do about this - I do have to have some light cycle in the tank for the squid (they don't seem to mind light at all).

Off to collect a squillion mysids again .... they eat like monsters!

 

[Steve O'Shea]

If you're trying to watch right now, we're just reconfiguring the system; apologies for any inconvenience - please persevere with us for a very short time.
Steve

 

[DWhatley]

Nothing like getting news media attention to improve configuration

 

[Steve O'Shea]

PLEASE NOTE NEW SITE
http://www.aut.ac.nz/research/research-institutes/eos/whats-new/squidcam

 

[DWhatley]

Looks like you finally "got some respect" (or gave IT enough time to set up a decent web page for you).

 

[Steve O'Shea]

Things happened at meteoric speed today

 

[GPO87]

They're so tiny! It's totally reasonable to have 200 or so individuals in the tank! I can't wait to watch them get bigger!
Excuse me while I go and try to take a picture!

 

[Steve O'Shea]

Big water change tomorrow .... maybe 25% ... and move to new prey type (fish). Watch these puppies grow

 

[bobwonderbuns]

That's awesome Steve! Thanks for sharing!!