[carvink]

I was recently at a workshop about Marine Permaculture Arrays (MPA).

Picture square-kilometer kelp farms in the open ocean, using ocean current eddy shear levels to move MPA to different locations in a region (different vertical layer current speeds enable a kind of underwater sailing).

MPA need new kinds of sensors to enable this marine autonomous navigation.

I asked what tech was available off-the-shelf, wondering if sensors from ocean gliders could be used for the MPA autonomous navigation capability. Brian von Herzen said they were too expensive now.

He followed up by writing that current sensing is something they are working on. Cost effective nutrient sensors are needed also...

Getting the sensor cost down will help develop multiple new industries providing a range of ecosystem services that would supply food, fuel, fertilizer, fiber, farmaceuticals (nutraceuticals). And carbon sequestration. When kelp sinks in deep waters, it stays there. On the ocean floor.