This is Waldo in better days, before a shark munched it.
http://www.keysnet.com/2010/08/28/252562/shark-bites-oil-seeking-robot.html
By KEVIN WADLOW
kwadlow@keynoter.com
Posted – Sunday, August 29, 2010 07:17 AM EDT
By SEAN KINNEY
Now a shark-scarred sub-sea seeker, Waldo the scientific robot survived its latest mission to bring positive news to the Florida Keys.
The 6-foot “autonomous underwater vehicle” found no significant traces of underwater oil from the Deepwater Horizon spill in its 28 days at sea, after being launched July 19 from Mote Marine Laboratory’s Summerland Key facility, according to the Natural Resources Defense Council, an expedition backer.
The run, on a triangular search pattern from north of the Keys to south of Naples, was curtailed about two days early “when a shark bit into and damaged Waldo’s rudder and his left wing was lost,” council analyst Ali Chase reported in an online account.
“There’s a good chance the attack occurred during [the Discovery Channel’s] Shark Week,” said Paul Johnson, a marine consultant working with the council.
The yellow, torpedo-shaped Waldo, worth an estimated $100,000, was recovered successfully.
In its first Keys-based mission during the Deepwater Horizon spill, Waldo was recovered June 2 after being knocked off course by strong currents near the Dry Tortugas.
Normally used to seek red-tide organisms, Waldo was modified to seek traces of oil from the Deepwater Horizon spill.
“Waldo didn’t turn up any strong indications of oil on the continental shelf to the north and northwest of the Florida Keys during this run,” Chase said.
“That was excellent news,” said Johnson, a former Reef Relief president. “This was a time when the path of the oil was unknown. NRDC and [conservation group] Oceana stepped up to help safeguard the Florida Keys in a time of dire need.”
Gulf of Mexico currents and weather conditions combined to push the spill oil away from the Loop Current that could have carried it through the Florida Straits to South Florida. However, much of the spill oil apparently has settled into deepwater plumes, and the effect on the marine environment remains unknown. Information sent by Waldo during its most recent run could prove useful in another scientific field: Hurricane tracking. While at sea during Tropical Storm Bonnie, the AUV sent back water temperatures from hundreds of feet below the surface.
“How much heat is in the water determines hurricane force,” Chase said. “Measurements Waldo captured during this time will help advise future forecasting of hurricane strength.”