Image

Farming the Seas

July 10, 2018

Researchers survey a kelp farm run by the University of New England in Saco Bay, Maine, using a REMUS 100, a robotic underwater vehicle (not visible) equipped with specialized sonar, cameras, and environmental sensors. The survey was part of a larger effort funded by the U.S. Department of Energy to develop tools and technology to advance the mass production of seaweed for biofuels and bio-based chemicals. WHOI biologist Scott Lindell is leading a team of seaweed biologists, geneticists and entrepreneurs who are developing a breeding program for sugar kelp, a commercially important species. WHOI robotics and acoustics researcher Erin Fischell is leading the development of the autonomous underwater kelp farm observation system known as KelpBot. (Photo by Sean Patrick Whelan, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)