This 3D reconstruction of a coral reef was made from a series of photos recorded in situ by the remotely operated underwater robot (ROV) Ariane of the French Oceanographic Fleet (FOF) during the CALADU-2019 cruise. The 3D reconstruction algorithms were developed by the "Unité des Systèmes sous-marins" from Ifremer. The 3D reconstruction was produced by the scientists, was cleaned by pix-factory (pix-factory.eu) and the 2D travelling video was generated by pix-factory. 

Scientists are now able to obtain digital reconstructions of an entire ecosystem, enabling them to work in precise detail on deep-sea populations. This georeferenced model is to scale. It is used to count the different species, to measure sizes and surfaces and to calculate densities. It also allows to obtain the depths at which the species are found.