NOAA 'Omics Seminar Series: Harnessing Uncrewed Vessels and Autonomous Samplers to Scale eDNA

Date: September 18, 2024
Title: Harnessing Uncrewed Vessels and Autonomous Samplers to Scale eDNA
Presenter: Christina Preston
Abstract: In 2022, with support from NOAA and BOEM and in conjunction with UNH, OECI/OER, Saildrone, Inc. and MBARI, the 22-meter uncrewed vessel, USV Saildrone SD1200, fitted with multiple sensors including multibeam sonars (EM304 and EM2040) and an automated eDNA
sample collection device, the Environmental Sample Processor, simultaneously mapped the seafloor and collected environmental DNA (eDNA) samples from surface waters of some the most remote and understudied regions of the U.S. EEZ including 1) 500km region of the south
Bering Sea along the Aleutian Island Chain east of Dutch Harbor, Alaska, 2) 3,900km transit from the Aleutian Islands to CA, and 3) an area of economic interest 230km off the coast of Mendocino, CA. A total of 224 eDNA samples (163 field and 61 control) were collected by filtration, preserved using RNAlater and analyzed using amplicon metabarcoding to access the
biodiversity. In this seminar, we will discuss “over-the-horizon” autonomous eDNA sampling on the uncrewed vessel, show some preliminary results of the biodiversity from the field collected samples, and discuss results from control samples collected to access biofouling and eDNA sample stability. The study highlights important considerations for interpreting results from autonomously collected samples in future expeditions and provides a pathway for scaling global biodiversity observations and ocean exploration through large-scale, systematic biodiversity surveys.