A marine seismic acquisition system includes a frame that includes a central longitudinal axis and members that define orthogonal planes that intersect along the central longitudinal axis; a data interface operatively coupled to the frame; hydrophones operatively coupled to the frame; a buoyancy engine operatively coupled to the frame where the buoyancy engine includes at least one mechanism that controls buoyancy of at least the frame, the hydrophones and the buoyancy engine; and at least one inertial motion sensor operatively coupled to the frame that generates frame orientation data, where the hydrophones, the buoyancy engine and the at least one inertial motion sensor are operatively coupled to the data interface.