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Robot Submarine Poisons Sea Stars To Save Coral Reefs

Posted by Soulskill on from the hopefully-seanet-won't-learn-from-skynet dept.

schwit1 writes: A 30-kilogram robotic yellow submarine is keeping sea stars in check with poison. The sea stars periodically have huge population booms, and a square kilometer of reef can be home to 100,000 of them. They'll kill off the reefs if left unchecked, but humans can only kill a couple sea stars per minute. The task is overwhelming but simple and repetitive, and thus ripe for automation. The COTSBot has "a maximum speed of over two meters per second and an endurance of over six hours. Five thrusters give it the capability of briefly hovering in the water column, giving it time to attack crown of thorns sea stars with an integrated poison injection system. It's completely autonomous, down to the identification and targeting of [sea stars] lurking among coral."

4 of 106 comments (clear)

  1. What could go wrong? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    It's not like humans "correcting" eco-systems they brought off-kilter has ever gone wrong before.

    1. Re:What could go wrong? by tomhath · · Score: 4, Insightful

      The article mentions it in passing, but the biggest contributor to the problem is over fishing of the large predators that should be present on the reefs - sharks, groupers, etc. That upsets the entire ecosystem.

  2. Re:Why?? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    We introduced this species to the barrier reef (accidentally, via bilge water from ships).
    It is destroying innumerable living things and the reef itself.
    Obviously we should have done better, but the question remains: what is the optimal action to take now to limit total damage?
    Kill the starfish, or kill the reef (along with many of the animals that rely on it) indirectly through inaction?
    (NB: no time travel allowed)

  3. Re:Why?? by Applehu+Akbar · · Score: 4, Insightful

    "Why are we humans entitled to dictate nature and kill species this way? "

    Because humans like coral reefs more than nature does.

    I'm a human supremacist. Greens can bite me, though I have to warn you that would not be vegan.