Robot Aids in Global Seagrass Meadow Restoration
Photo Credit (Pixeles)
Marine scientists are using cutting-edge robotic technology to help restore seagrass meadows, one of the most significant but least appreciated ecosystems on Earth.
Dozens of seagrass seeds can be planted every minute by the ReefGen Grasshopper. This is far safer than a human diver in addition to being faster.
It functions by infusing the seafloor with a little slurry of sediment that has been wrapped around the seagrass seed. Once a growing area of four seeds has been covered, the robot “hops” around 30 centimetres away and begins anew.
Seagrass meadows are thought to store 35 times as much carbon as terrestrial forests, or around 18% of the world’s oceans’ total carbon stock, even though they only cover a very small percentage of the seafloor.
Tom Chi, the founder of ReefGen, came up with the concept after observing the deterioration of coral reefs on his native Hawaiian island. The robot’s initial version placed coral “plugs” onto pre-existing reefs to aid in their regeneration, but the cost of the technology prevented widespread adoption.
Chris Oakes, CEO of ReefGen, claims that the cost of building and maintaining underwater robots has now decreased due to a wider variety of off-the-shelf components.
Oakes told CNN that while manual planting is effective, “robots are really good when things are dull, dirty, dangerous, or distant—the four Ds.” Currently, grasshopper is controlled by a human on the surface.
“At the moment, we’re concentrating on the mechanical, biological, and planting aspects. Once we’re sure that everything is set up correctly, we’ll add more semi-autonomous features like navigation, so you don’t actually have to pilot it,” he stated.
In addition to restoring seagrass meadows, ReefGen has seen success with its robots being deployed in oceans all around the world. Grasshopper sowed 25,000 seeds in Wales this July. ReefGen and the University of North Carolina (UNC) Institute of Marine Sciences collaborated in October to evaluate different seed replanting techniques on the state’s dwindling seagrass meadows.
Even though a robotic solution may look “flashy” and cool, Oakes thinks that the most crucial element in its success will be the long-term monitoring of the fields it is replanting. Will they live long enough to seed and germinate their own fields? Are they reaching maturity? Are the seedlings dying off before then? And how do fields with plants compare to fields that are seeded by hand?
