Robots Track Oil | University of South Florida

Robots are tracking the Gulf Oil Spill as we reported earlier this week. During the Florida Oil Spill Forum we attended near Bayboro Harbor, we learned that scientists from the University of South Florida were having difficulty obtaining samples near the Deepwater Horizon. 

The solution: robots. According to MSNBC, "The gliders look like torpedoes with wings. They move by sucking in seawater, which causes them to tip forward and sink. When the glider reaches the desired depth, it expels the water, causing it to tip back toward the surface." We have learned that the robots can be used for red tide research as well. The scientists discuss the difficulty in tracking the source of oil found in the Gulf of Mexico in the video below.