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Australian bio-robots to investigate the Indian Ocean

Xinhua, June 26, 2015 Adjust font size:

Investigative bio-robots are taking to the water thanks to Australia's leading scientific research organization, CSIRO, in an effort to understand the physical and biological processes of the crucially important Indian Ocean.

Robotic floats, called BioArgos, will for the first time measure the dissolved oxygen, nitrate, chlorophyll, organic matter and particles between Australia's Christmas Island and Madagascar, the CSIRO announced on Friday.

Despite the importance of the Indian Ocean for the fisheries resources, shipping and livelihoods of the large populations around its rim, CSIRO project leader Dr. Nick Hardman-Mountford said relatively little is known about the depths and biological health of the system.

"The East Indian Ocean alone brings in catches of seven million tons of fish per year," Hardman-Mountford said. "And it also drives the climates of its surrounding regions, which make up more than 16 percent of the world's entire population."

"So it's important that we keep track of what's going on below the surface," Hardman-Mountford said.

Four of the bio-robots, each worth up to 100,000 Australian dollars (77,173 U.S. dollars), are being dropped into masses of spinning water, known as eddies, which will then travel up to 2, 000 meters below the surface, drifting with the current.

Changes in the chemistry and biology of the marine ecosystems will then be measured before rising to the surface to transmit the data to researchers via a satellite in real time, building up a three dimensional picture of the Indian Ocean.

Hardman-Mountford said the robots will enable researchers to understand the growth of plankton and how much carbon gets absorbed, used up the food chain and how much gets buried.

"Knowing about this growth is important for predicting how much food the Indian Ocean can produce and how much carbon dioxide it can capture, and will give us a better idea of what keeps the Indian Ocean healthy and productive," Mountford said.

The bio-robots will be deployed on a U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (UNFAO) voyage traveling through Mauritius and Madagascar. Endi