Liquid Robotics' next generation Wave Glider SV Robots

Liquid Robots Unveils Newest Unmanned Wave Glider Robot - Science News - redOrbit

Today, the Silicon Valley startup is announcing a new line of Wave Glider robots propelled by waves and solar power. The Wave Glider SV3 is the world’s first unmanned ocean robot to use this kind of hybrid technology, according to an official statement from the company.

Source: Liquid Robots Unveils Newest Unmanned Wave Glider Robot - Science News - redOrbit

Liquid Robotics launches new generation of wave glider ocean robots | VentureBeat

Sunnyvale, Calif.-based Liquid Robotics gained a spot in history when it announced in December that Papa Mau, one of its data-collecting second-generation Wave Gliders, had floated more than 9,000 miles across the Pacific Ocean.

Wave Gliders can collect data on weather in remote locations. They can be used to monitor hurricanes, predict tsunamis, and monitor rare marine life. Wave Gliders collect data on temperature, winds, humidity, wind gusts, water temperature, water color, and water composition. They can also take pictures. These robots are gathering a lot of observational data about climate change, ocean acidification, fisheries management, hurricane and tsunami warnings, and exploration — but in a green way.

Source: Liquid Robotics launches new generation of wave glider ocean robots | VentureBeat

Sea Waves and Sunlight Power This Upgraded Naval Robot | Danger Room | Wired.com

The Wave Glider SV3 is at the intersection of two others: robotics and renewable energy. Senior Navy officials are hot to create an undersea robot that can last great distances, performing missions that range from aquatic surveillance to mine destruction to submarine hunting. Problem is, no engineer has figured out how to give the robots a sufficiently long-lasting fuel source to power cross-oceanic transit — a necessity, since the robot isn’t going to swim into port to refuel. Which ties into another Navy necessity: immunizing its budget from the fluctuations in fuel costs, especially as its efforts at using biofuels ran into major congressional obstruction.

Source: Sea Waves and Sunlight Power This Upgraded Naval Robot | Danger Room | Wired.com

Roger Hine introducing the Wave Glider SV3 - YouTube

Source: Roger Hine introducing the Wave Glider SV3 - YouTube

LRI | Wave Glider SV Series

First introduced in 2009, Wave Gliders have since traveled more than 300,000 nautical miles, set a world record for longest distance traveled by an autonomous vehicle, and been deployed on more than 100 customer missions ranging from the Arctic and Australia, to the Canary Islands and Loch Ness.

The SV Series represents the next generation of Wave Glider technology and includes the Wave Glider SV2 with a compatible growth path to the high-end Wave Glider SV3. Customers can choose the Wave Glider that best fits their mission and budgetary requirements, or mix and match for complex operations.

Download the Wave Glider SV Series data sheet (pdf)

Source: LRI | Wave Glider SV Series

Related

• Liquid Robotics, Inc. | Ocean Data Services
• LRI | Liquid Robotics Announces Breakthroughs in Unmanned Ocean Observation with Introduction of Wave Glider SV3
• Wave Glider sea robot gets a new version, replete with more power and gear
• Liquid Robotics Unveils Powerful Data-Collecting Ocean Robot | News & Opinion | PCMag.com
• Those ocean-going robots we told you about just got smarter – Quartz
• 'Wave Glider' Robots Make Assault on Ocean Distance Record | TechNewsDaily.com
• Robot wave gliders set new world record for ocean travel | MNN - Mother Nature Network

TheBlu: World's First Social Digital Ocean App

"theBlu", social digital ocean app launched

NEW YORK: Wemo Media, the Venice, CA-based entertainment studio, on friday, 4 May 2012, announced the launch of "theBlu," a globally shared art and entertainment experience. Inspired by the world's oceans, "theBlu" is a living and breathing digital art exhibit of ocean habitats and species, created by artists and developers from all over the world.

Source: "theBlu", social digital ocean app launched

Wemo Media

The Blu

The Blu is a global mission to create the ocean on the web as a globally shared media experience. It is a beautiful interactive online world where every species and habitat is a unique work of art created by digital artists and developers around the world. The Blu is a geosocial web application where people connect across the Internet and explore a vast ocean on the web. Check it out...

Source: Wemo Media

theBlu

Source: theBlu

TheBlu User Intro Video - YouTube

Source: TheBlu User Intro Video - YouTube

TheBlu - Screensaver

What is theBlu?

Inspired by the Oceans, theBlu is a socially-connected, global interactive screensaver. Each time you participate, your interactions and connections impact the flow of life in theBlu and everyone's experience of it.
TheBlu is created and curated Academy Award-winning leaders and world-class artists and developers - we call them Makers. Each time you purchase beautiful species and habitats to add to the globally-connected Ocean, you support oceanic conservation.
Once you install theBlu screensaver, you can:

1. Explore and experience a beautiful online 3D underwater world as easily as browsing the Web.
2. Connect and interact with your friends via Facebook and go diving together in theBlu.
3. Have fun learning about the Oceans because theBlu is both entertaining and educational.
4. Support oceanic conservation each time you purchase 3D species and habitat art work.

TheBlu is available on Mac and PC. It requires a one-time, one-click, quick download. TheBlu will soon be available on iPad, iPhone, Android and other devices. (read more about our tech specs)

Source: TheBlu - Screensaver

Related

• Virtual Ocean theBlu Takes Social Interaction to New Depths | Underwire | Wired.com
• Help Create a Global Love Letter to the Ocean in Times Square on May 4th : TreeHugger
• "theBlu" Dives Into Times Square - Yahoo! Finance
• "theBlu", social digital ocean app launched
• Wired Exclusive: theBlu Launch Party in Times Square (Photos) | Allie is Wired
• Leah Lamb: Whale Inspires Largest Global Interactive Art and Entertainment Experience
• theBlu - a quick video walkthrough af theBlu galleries - YouTube

Perpetual Ocean -- Ocean Surface Currents Animation

Last year, a group of NASA scientists and animators put together this animation of the world’s ocean surface currents, based on ocean flow data for June 2005 to December 2007. The video starts over the Atlantic, and as the globe rotates, you can see the whorls and waves dancing across the ocean, the relative calm of the Pacific, and the stillness around Antarctica. [...] The tool NASA used to make the visualization — ECCO2 or Estimating the Circulation and Climate of the Ocean

Source: This ocean climate model is downright hypnotic | Grist

Perpetual Ocean - YouTube

Source: Perpetual Ocean - YouTube

ECCO2 Home Page

To increase understanding and predictive capability for the ocean's role in future climate change scenarios, the NASA Modeling, Analysis, and Prediction (MAP) program is funding a project called Estimating the Circulation and Climate of the Ocean, Phase II (ECCO2): High-Resolution Global-Ocean and Sea-Ice Data Synthesis. ECCO2 aims to produce increasingly accurate syntheses of all available global-scale ocean and sea-ice data at resolutions that start to resolve ocean eddies and other narrow current systems, which transport heat, carbon, and other properties within the ocean.

Source: ECCO2 Home Page

Related

• ECCO: Estimating the Circulation & Climate of the Ocean
• SVS Animation 3827 - Perpetual Ocean
• MITgcm

Giant 'Sea Serpent' Caught on Camera

Clipped from: King of herrings - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

King of herrings

The king of herrings or Giant Oarfish, Regalecus glesne, an oarfish of the family Regalecidae, is found in all the world's oceans, at depths of between 66 feet and 1000 feet. Its total length can reach 39 feet (12 m), and it can weigh up to 600 pounds (270 kg). The rarely seen king of herrings is the world's longest bony fish.

 King of herrings (Regalecus glesne), a species of oarfish. From plate XVII of Oceanic Ichthyology: A Treatise on the Deep-Sea and Pelagic Fishes of the World by George Brown Goode and Tarleton H. Bean. Published in 1895. A Smithsonian Institution Special Bulletin. Washington; Government Printing Office.

Clipped from: Scientists Capture Giant 'Sea Serpent' on Camera : Living the Scientific Life (Scientist, Interrupted)

Scientists Capture Giant 'Sea Serpent' on Camera

A huge oarfish, also known as the ribbonfish, Regalecus glesne, was caught on camera in the Gulf of Mexico, giving scientists a rare glimpse of the bizarre fish in its native deep sea habitat. This is probably the largest bony fish in the seas, and it has the distinctive habit of swimming vertically (head up). Researcher Mark Benfield describes the fish, a likely inspiration for the sea serpent myth.

Clipped from: 2theadvocate.com | News | LSU's deep-sea studies get attention — Baton Rouge, LA

LSU's deep-sea studies get attention

Mark Benfield, LSU associate professor of oceanography and coastal studies, stands next to a Saipem America remotely operated underwater vehicle, while aboard BP’s Thunder Horse oil platform in the Gulf of Mexico. Benfield used the ROV to record rare footage of the oarfish at 1,500 feet below the surface of the water.

 The discovery was a surprise even to Benfield, who admits he did not realize the importance of his own footage at first.

“We saw this huge object, and we didn’t know what it was,” Benfield said. “We thought it was an oil pipe actually.”

But then he realized it was moving backward and forward and Benfield was able to have the ROV follow it for about five minutes of possibly unprecedented video.

“When it swam it retreated backward at a pretty fast clip, undulating its dorsal fin,” he said.

Clipped from: YouTube - Giant deep sea fish .wmv

Clipped from: SERPENT: Deep sea research using ROVs.

SERPENT Project

---

The oceans are a vast, alien landscape, covering nearly three quarters of the Earth's surface. It is the last great frontier on our planet and the SERPENT project is exploring this mysterious and exciting undersea environment in a deep sea adventure like no other.

Find out more	For Industry	For Public	For Science	For Policy

SERPENT is a global project hosted by the DEEPSEAS group, within Ocean Biogeochemistry and Ecosystems (OBE) at the National Oceanography Centre, Southampton (NOCS). The project has a growing network of UK and global partners.

Sources:

1. King of herrings - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
2. Scientists Capture Giant 'Sea Serpent' on Camera : Living the Scientific Life (Scientist, Interrupted)
3. YouTube - Giant 'Sea Serpent' Caught on Camera
4. 2theadvocate.com | News | LSU's deep-sea studies get attention — Baton Rouge, LA
5. YouTube - Giant deep sea fish .wmv
6. SERPENT: Deep sea research using ROVs.

1. Related:
2. SERPENT: Deep sea research using ROVs. - Gulf of Mexico Missions
3. Gulf SERPENT:  Establishing a Deepwater Plankton Observation System Using Industrial ROVs (GM-92-42-133)
4. LSU Coastal Marine Institute - Home

Orientation and Navigation of Sea Turtles

Clipped from: Lohmann

Sea Turtles

"Turtle Positioning System" helps reptiles on fantastic voyage

"There's no off-the-shelf Speedo turtle bathing suit that we know about," laughed biologist Ken Lohmann, as he attached a soft cloth harness, or bathing suit, to a three-month-old loggerhead turtle.

About a dozen of these young turtles "work" in Lohmann's University of North Carolina (UNC) laboratory. With help from the National Science Foundation (NSF), he's learning how these and other sea turtles use the Earth's magnetic field for a journey of thousands of miles around the Atlantic Ocean.

Clipped from: Lohmann Lab

Clipped from: Sea Turtle Navigation

Orientation and Navigation of Sea Turtles

 

Top left: a hatchling green turtle (photo by Ken Lohmann, Univ. North Carolina); Top right: a juvenile green turtle (courtesy of Univ. Central Florida turtle group); Bottom left: Hawaiian green turtles (photo by Ursula Keuper-Bennett and Peter Bennett; Bottom right: hatchling loggerhead turtles (photo by Ken Lohmann)
 

Clipped from: Sea-Finding by Hatchling Sea Turtles

SEA-FINDING BY HATCHLING SEA TURTLES

Given that hatchling sea turtles appear to use local visual cues to find the ocean, what environmental cues are available that might lead turtles toward the sea? 

 Several different possibilities are listed below.

• Towards land, the dunes and associated vegetation form a dark silhouette. Thus, the seaward horizon is LOWER than the landward horizon.
• Water reflects more light than land; thus, more ambient light is reflected from the ocean, making that region brighter.
• The beach slopes down in the direction of the water; thus, going downhill would usually lead turtles toward the sea.
• Waves breaking on the sand might provide an auditory cue that hatchlings can use to find the ocean.

Clipped from: Wave Orientation

ORIENTATION TO OCEAN WAVES BY SEA TURTLES

 

Once in the water, sea turtle hatchlings rapidly establish offshore courses that lead them away from land and directly toward the open sea. Moving quickly through coastal waters is crucial to the survival of young turtles, because fish and bird predators are abundant in nearshore waters. How do turtles maintain their orientation during this critical journey? Experiments both in the field and in the lab have revealed that, early in the offshore migration, hatchlings guide themselves seaward by swimming into waves.

Clipped from: Magnetic Orientation

Magnetic Orientation

Loggerhead and leatherback hatchlings are known to orient to the Earth's magnetic field, a cue that might potentially provide sea turtles with a way to maintain a heading without relying on waves. The experiments that first demonstrated that sea turtles can detect magnetic fields involved monitoring the directions that turtles swam toward under various magnetic fields in the lab. For these tests, each hatchling was placed into a nylon-Lycra harness as shown below. 

Sources:

1. nsf.gov - Special Report - Science Nation
2. YouTube - Sea Turtles
3. Lohmann Lab
4. Sea Turtle Navigation
5. http://www.unc.edu/depts/oceanweb/turtles/offshr.html
6. Sea-Finding by Hatchling Sea Turtles
7. Wave Orientation
8. Magnetic Orientation

Related:

1. Animations and Movies
2. Sea Turtles
3. Regional Magnetic Fields as Navigational Markers for Sea Turtles -- Lohmann et al. 294 (5541): 364 -- Science
4. Loggerhead Turtle (Caretta caretta) - Office of Protected Resources - NOAA Fisheries

BioPower Ocean Power Systems

clipped from www.reuters.com BioPower Systems Collaborates With City of San Francisco on Wave Energy Project SYDNEY, Oct. 22 /PRNewswire/ -- Australia's ocean energy company, BioPower Systems, today announced that it had entered into a collaborative agreement with the City of San Francisco to investigate the generation of wave energy from the Pacific Ocean. clipped from www.biopowersystems.com BioPower Systems is commercialising ocean power conversion technologies. Through application of biomimicry, we have adopted nature's mechanisms for survival and energy conversion in the marine environment and have applied these in the development of our proprietary wave and tidal power systems. clipped from www.biopowersystems.com The wave power system, bioWAVE™, is based on the swaying motion of sea plants in the presence of ocean waves. clipped from www.youtube.com bioWave ocean wave power system BioPower Systems clipped from www.biopowersystems.com The tidal power conversion system, bioSTREAM™, is based on the highly efficient propulsion of Thunniform mode swimming species, such as shark, tuna, and mackerel. clipped from www.youtube.com bioSTREAM Tidal Power System

Sources:

1. BioPower Systems Collaborates With City of San Francisco on Wave Energy Project | Reuters
2. BioPower Systems - Biologically Inspired Ocean Power Systems
3. BioPower Systems - Biologically Inspired Ocean Power Systems
4. YouTube - bioWave ocean wave power system BioPower Systems
5. BioPower Systems - Biologically Inspired Ocean Power Systems
6. YouTube - bioSTREAM Tidal Power System

Related:

1. BioPower Systems draws inspiration from the sea to build ocean power technologies | VentureBeat
2. Ocean Power Magazine » Ocean power partnership: BioPower Systems and Siemens sign MoU
3. Radotec Projects - BioPower Systems

Deepest-living fishes (video)

British scientists have filmed for the first time the hadal snailfish: the deepest-dwelling ocean animal ever captured on camera.

clipped from www.mailonsunday.co.uk Caught on camera: The world's deepest-dwelling fish five miles under the ocean's surface British scientists have filmed a species of fish said to be the deepest-dwelling ocean animal ever captured on camera. A team from Aberdeen University collaborated with their Tokyo counterparts to film the ghostly white Hadal snail fish off Japan’s east coast at a depth of 7,700m. clipped from planetearth.nerc.ac.uk Beyond the abyss Alan Jamieson and colleagues are on a mission to film the world's deepest-living fishes. Ophidiidae Marianas, photographed on a previous Hadeep Project expedition. clipped from planetearth.nerc.ac.uk Deepest-living fishes caught on camera for the first time Marine scientists filming in one of the world's deepest ocean trenches have found groups of highly sociable fish swarming nearly five miles (7700 metres) beneath the surface. The Hadeep team. With sapphire viewports and pressure housings as thick as cannon-barrels, the HADEEP submersible is made of stern stuff. clipped from uk.youtube.com rare Fish Caught on Camera 4.8 miles Deep clipped from www.oceanlab.abdn.ac.uk

Related:
Caught on camera: The world's deepest-dwelling fish five miles under the ocean's surface | Mail Online
Beyond the abyss
Deepest-living fishes caught on camera for the first time
Oceanlab - University of Aberdeen
Professor Imants Priede
Deepest living fish filmed | ZME Science

bioWAVE and bioSTREAM -- Underwater Wind Turbines

A team at the Australian company BioPower Systems has designed the bioWAVE and bioSTREAM devices. Devices that sway in tune with the oceans currents while producing clean, renewable energy.

clipped from www.biopowersystems.com BioPower Systems is commercialising ocean power conversion technologies. Through application of biomimicry, we have adopted nature's mechanisms for survival and energy conversion in the marine environment and have applied these in the development of our proprietary wave and tidal power systems. clipped from news.nationalgeographic.com VIDEO: Undersea "Wind Farms" Tested clipped from www.biopowersystems.com The wave power system, bioWAVE™, is based on the swaying motion of sea plants in the presence of ocean waves. The hydrodynamic interaction of the buoyant blades with the oscillating flow field is designed for maximum energy absorption. In extreme wave conditions the bioWAVE™ automatically ceases operating and assumes a safe position lying flat against the seabed. This eliminates exposure to extreme forces, allowing for lighter designs and substantial cost savings. clipped from nl.youtube.com bioWAVE clipped from www.biopowersystems.com Tasmania Pilot Projects bioWAVE pilot, King Island, Tasmania, Australia bioSTREAM pilot, Flinders Island, Tasmania, Australia