Engineers Build Manta Ray Robot to Protect Our Planet’s Coral Reefs

Amaze Lab

Our planet’s fragile coral reefs are in trouble and while experts hope to save these underwater ecosystems, observing them can be difficult with traditional tools. That’s why a team of engineers has developed a biometric manta ray.

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00:00Our planet's fragile coral reefs are in trouble, and while experts hope to save these underwater

00:08ecosystems, observing them can be difficult with traditional tools.

00:12Those types of submersibles can damage reefs, negatively impacting the very thing they're

00:16trying to save.

00:17That's why this team of researchers has developed a biometric manta ray.

00:21It's essentially a remote controllable fish, capable of observing and providing data to

00:26humans on the surface.

00:27The teams say they decided to base their robot on a manta ray because of its ability

00:31to move in pretty much any direction, with the researchers outlining that it can swim

00:34forwards and backwards, execute tight turns, dive, and even perform backflips.

00:39It's important for conservationists to have submersibles that can blend in, letting them

00:43observe habitats in their natural state.

00:45Coral reefs are of particular import to marine biologists as well, as despite only covering

00:50less than 1% of the ocean's floor, coral reefs house as much as 25% of all oceanic

00:56species.

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