Flying robots to spy on red tides

2003/03/01 Elhuyar Zientzia Iturria: Elhuyar aldizkaria

• Ingurumena

Red tides occur due to the excessive proliferation of some toxic microscopic algae that are lethal to fish and crustaceans. For their study they have used flying robots in the Gulf of Mexico. In fact, in some summers, the Carenia brevis plancton, common in that sea, occurs disproportionately and causes serious damage to many fish and molluscs.

Testing with flying robots is the first step in a larger project. And later they want to use autonomous underwater boats to track the red tides. Thanks to data obtained through scuba boats and satellites, they aim to predict when red tides will occur. In this way, fishermen and husbandmen can take measures to reduce losses.