By Alison Hawkes, Bay Nature
Four surfboard-size vehicles set sail off the coast of the San Francisco Bay earlier this month in an attempt to break world records in ocean exploration and robotics.
The wave gliders will, if successful, traverse the longest distance of any unmanned ocean craft as they cross the Pacific Ocean. Driven entirely off wave power and solar panels, the gliders will remotely study the ocean and send data back to on-shore computers via satellite. Sensors on board are collecting data on everything from chlorophyll and dissolved oxygen levels to meteorological conditions.
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