Instrumentation needs for ocean biology

Research and development in ocean engineering, particularly in the areas of deep ocean drilling and platform construction, have progressed remarkably in the past few decades. By and large, instrumentation for biological ocean research, in comparison, remains simplistic. A brief review of marine biological sampling devices is provided, indicating the relative inadequacies of marine bio-instrumentation. Equipment for plankton, benthos, and nekton sampling has been improved in recent years compared to that available for nannoplankton. Nevertheless, there are limitations even in the best of these devices, and improvements in sampling gear would benefit ocean biology significantly. Precise sample collection of surface slicks, water column, and ocean sediment is mandatory for biological assessment of environmental impact. The necessary sampling gear is either not available or under development and, in cases where the instrumentation is available, it is, in general, either limited in application or not entirely reliable. As an example, increasingly, the ocean serves as the receptor of discharge from sewage outfalls, deep water disposal, and ocean dumping. Thus assessment of biological impact is required, particularly in light of the increasing frequency of reports of survival of bacteria and viruses pathogenic for man in those regions of the world oceans significantly affected by these activities. Improved instrumentation for aseptic sample collection and retrieval of water, sediment, and biota for quantitative, as well as qualitative, microbiological analyses are needed. Developments in baromicrobiology have been rapid, but improved instrumentation is needed. Even though aseptic collection of deep ocean water samples is possible, sediment sample collection for microbiology is still accomplished by coring or grab devices, with no instrument yet available for quantitative undisturbed sample collection without contamination from water column microorganisms.