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.