Have you guys ever seen the movie Spinal Tap where the band is playing and the Stonehenge set is being lowered to the stage, only it is ridiculously small compared to their expectations? The set guy got the scale all wrong.
That is what is going on here, you are the set guy, and your sense of scale is way off. These photos that the ROV took are taken from from say 1-3 ft away from the objects you are looking at. Any farther and the light becomes too diffuse to see. The strut you superimpose, would be maybe 6 inches long instead of the 6 ft you imagine it. If the object were 6 ft, the camera would have to be a good 20 ft away, and at that distance there simply wouldn't be enough light to light up the bottom. I don't know what the wattage of the lamp on the ROV is, but it isn't big enough to light up the bottom of the ocean from 20-30 ft away.
Given random pattern, and no scale, we can see all kinds of stuff in these photos, but I really think it is not a productive enterprise. If there were a real object there, like the rope, we'd recognize it immediately. Trying to find other stuff that is not obvious may be fun, but is similar to seeing bunnies in the clouds, everyone can see one if they look hard enough.
We went through this with images in the lagoon that people thought represented the Electra. We even went to some of the locations just to rule them out, an in every case where someone was sure they could see some sort of object, it wasn't there.
With the upcoming expedition, there will be plenty of images of real stuff to look at - keep in mind the NC wreckage needs to be surveyed to ensure that there isn't an Electra mixed up with that debris, so save your effort for reviewing that footage with a critical eye.
Andrew
Good Morning, Marty
Thank you for providing Andrew McKenna's thoughts on scale. I cannot say that I can agree with them, in large part based upon my many hours of experience looking at ROV video in real time on the Niku VII expedition. The visual range is certainly sufficient to see the 25-30 feet he warns of, even in the absence of ambient light at depth. For example,
(1) when the ROV was dispatched to rescue the AUV (on two occasions), once the AUV was found, caught in the ledge, the cameras on the ROV were able, as I recall, to encompass the full scene, including the full length of the AUV (about 14 feet). Perhaps Ric could provide you some footage of this part of the incident.
(2) When I directed folks' attention to a wing-like shape on the sidescan sonar returns, the SSI technecian was able to give an approximate length (27 feet, as I recall). Because this matched closely the actual length of the Electra wing, it became a target for ROV examination. When the "wing" was found adjacent to the Norwich City wreckage, it became apparent that it had nothing to do with an airplane, but was rather a portion of a hatch cover or internal bulkhead from the Norwich City. The point being, that the entire length of the object was visible at one time by the ROV.
(3) Small objects found in several locations, such as discarded wine bottles, were never suprisingly huge, as if the camera were only inches away from them.
My point about the Niku VI video is that the various anomolies identified as possible Electra components all give scale to each other, as in the case of the wheel and the engine nacelle. The numerals on the wing are of similar height and width. The rope running down the hill is not out of scale with any of the other objects. The consistency between various components is what leads one to believe that they are all related to one another.
The numeral "2" is so clear to me in its shape, thickness of strokes, angles of strokes, and color that it warrants special attention, in my opinion, by those who have the talents and equipment to examine it in full detail. If someone can provide an alternate explanation of its identity, fine. If you are waiting until we find the actual Airworthiness Certificate before we declare success, then I don't think I have enough years left.
Might I just call this "An Inconvenient 2th".