Hi Sean! I love that you are naturally curious and are pursuing really cool projects in your free time. I know absolutely nothing about cape dune mole rats (in fact, never heard of them prior to this post, but I will confess I was interested in the concept of a mole-rat mystery), but I did have some thoughts about where you might find more information-

It seems like the types of questions you are asking are pretty specific and niche. My first thought on how to find someone with expertise in these specific rodents was to go to their iNat page- there you can see the top observer and top identifier. Both individuals are active researchers, so I think reaching out to them on iNat or finding their e-mails from their respective organizations' sites might be a good way to get in touch.

• https://doi.org/10.1080/15627020.2012.11407557

I also did a quick search in Google Scholar in which I typed in only the scientific name and hit go. The two publications linked above caught my eye as potentially helpful in your search- particularly the first one. They excavated burrows and noted things like home range size, that males have more burrows than females, etc. I didn't go much beyond the abstracts but these seem like they might get you on the right tracks!

Happy ratting!

Hi Connie. You could check out Blue Robotics (bluerobotics.com) - they seem to have some options for underwater housings and cable connectors. I haven’t personally tried any, but they might be worth a look. Good luck with your project!

If you don't mind sacrificing the fiber optic cable, you could pretty much take any submersible housing (rubber coat 3D print or alike) and utilize a potted penetrator. Using something like 3M™ Scotchcast™ Potting Kit 2136 or a simple marine grade epoxy from the hardware store should work. You could even put a polycarbonate window to see inside the housing. But this is all relative to how long you want to submerge the instrument for and how reliable you want the housing to work. 

For a cable like that, I would drill a hole into your underwater housing a little larger than your cable. Take a 2cm PVC pipe which is a bit larger than your hole and hotglue it onto the housing making a seal for you to fill with epoxy. Place another 1cm PVC pipe inside the housing on the other side of your hole inside the housing. Place the cable through and pour in the epoxy. You may have to force it into the PVC with some Q tips and make sure to get all the bubbles out. A simple trick is to put it under a vacuum if you are able or a less effective option is to place it on a shaker table for a few minutes. It can be a little messy. Note: the key for any penetrator is to not place strain on your cables. 

Otherwise, I would suggest looking at Sexton Underwater Housing Corporation if you're looking for something custom that fits your needs. We have a few fiber optic connections on our things from them. The underwater box from bluerobotics may be helpful, but you do run into your penetrator issue and you can't see into the box. Other note when housing expensive equipment: ALWAYS have a place to vacuum test your underwater housing. This will ensure you don't have any small leaks before deployment. I'd skip bluerobotics vacuum handpump (I'd look around for a less expensive option bc it will break and they're cheaper elsewhere). I spent probably a couple days finding out that there wasn't a leak in the housing but the hand pump itself. You can get the vent plug and vacuum plug from blue and then just get a small electric pump (Diaphragm Vacuum Pump, Compact Oil-free Vacuum Pump Pressure Pump) with a gauge to save your hands and time. 

 

Hi! Did you find all the collaborators you needed?

I'd be curious to hear what sort of fruits were harvested from your collective bioacoustic efforts!

Scott in Seattle

It's probably much easier to find a company selling acoustic modems than to try and create your own...very challenging environment to work within. I have about 10 years working with underwater acoustics (as a non-engineer). 

To give you the best advice, I need a bit more information about your specific application. Underwater communication typically relies on acoustic modems because radio waves don't travel well through water. For longer distances, a hybrid solution is often used. This could involve an acoustic modem transmitting data from your underwater sensor to a surface buoy or platform. The buoy could then relay the data to shore using traditional radio communication, such as 900MHz radios (even commercially available options like Ubiquiti radios, depending on distance and line-of-sight). To help me understand your needs and recommend the right approach, could you tell me more about:

Data Rate Requirements: How much data do you need to transmit, and how often?

Range: What is the vertical distance between your sensor and the surface receiver?

Environment: Are you working in shallow or deep water? What is the water temperature, salinity, and expected noise level?

Power Budget: How much power is available for the underwater sensor and modem?

Cost: What is your budget for the acoustic modem system?

Integration: How will you integrate the modem with your sensor and surface receiving system?

Real-time or Delayed: Do you need the data in real-time, or can it be stored and transmitted later?

Thank you for sharing! 

Hi Brett,

I am interested in developing really low cost multi channel underwater acoustic recorders.  Can you tell me a bit more about the board and stuff you were using for yours? You can get me at chris@wilcoanalytics.org.

Thanks,

Chris