Abstract: A system, apparatus, and method for individually identifying, handling, tracking, deploying, and recovering a plurality of seismic nodes by an underwater vehicle for subsea operations. The deployment and positioning and retrieval of seismic nodes to and from the seabed may be managed automatically by software and/or manually automated by an ROV operator. The disclosed system may be coupled to a ROV navigation system. The node identification system tracks the position of each seismic node (associated with a unique identification number) within each tray or other node holder at all times, whether the tray is located on board a surface vessel, within an ROV, within a subsea basket, or on the seabed. The identification system is configured to track, select, deploy, and recover a particular seismic node by its unique identification number.