For nearly eight months, two 7-meter long “drone” sailboats have cruised the Pacific ocean at half speed probing the ocean’s surfaces with sensors. The sailboats are semi-autonomous and were created by a company called Saildrone.  Saildrone is a California tech startup company. The company worked together with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to ensure that the voyage was a success.

The eight month journey is the longest the drones have been tested and the first time on the Pacific ocean. It is an important step because it shows that expensive sail equipment can be replaced with more affordable, smarter technology.  Historically, ships were used to collect data from the sea. After that, buoys and satellites took over. Scientists want to send in drones to advance oceanography for faster and more efficient results.

In the next decade, it is expected that hundreds and even thousands of drones will be used to scan the world’s ocean via satellite transmitting data back to base. This will be a great improvement for scientists who study El Nino events because of its shifting global temperatures. Drones will come in very handy in monitoring the southern oscillation.  About a decade ago, the Tropical Atmosphere Ocean (TAO) array – buoys placed in the Pacific seafloor – were almost destroyed. The marine growth on these buoys was a fish magnet. This caused TOA to appear on a lot of fisherman’s raiders.

Buoys were dragged and destroyed by fishermen who simply wanted easy access to the fish. The destruction piled on overtime and created a maintenance backlog.  Another problem is the cost of maintaining research ships. Because the cost was soaring only a few new buoys were deployed. An oceanographer at the University of Hawaii, Christopher Sabine stated that these problems were a wake up call.  The crisis encouraged NOAA to look for other sustainable options. Richard Jenkin, a founder at Saildrone saw this an opportunity.

Jenkins had previously built a sailboat with wheels known as Greenbird. The device broke speed records for fast wind-powered vehicles. Richard also helped philanthropists Eric and Wendy Schmidt in outfitting their research vessel at a cost of $60 million. The cost made him wonder if there was a cheaper option available.  He received 2.5 million from the philanthropists and in 2013 he completed the first voyage from California to Hawaii. Since then, Saildrone has worked to improve its processes.

They helped Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory (PMEL) scientists outfit boats with sensors, and in 2015, they made it through 40-knot winds in the Arctic to monitor marine life. These successes have encouraged scientist to look into drones as a viable option in oceanography. Drones can sail in circles, they can navigate difficult waters, return to port unassisted and so much more.  Drones are a much more affordable option for scientists too. For example, Saildrone charges $2500 daily for a drone hire. When compared to the $30,000 per day that it costs to hire a ship, drones come at just a fraction of the cost.

Saildrone began this test in September 2017. The Saildrones are expected back next month and although it was not all smooth sailing, the data that has been gathered so far has been very promising.

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