A Low-cost, multispectral buoy for HAB detection capable of algal class discrimination

Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs) are caused by overgrowth of algae in oceans and rivers. They release dangerous toxins, affect real-estate prices, and kill marine life/poison shellfish. This costs $17B annually in economic damage. Ocean monitoring for HABs uses satellites, but these cannot see some types of HABs against the background of natural algae until they are well developed/already dangerous. They also don’t work well near shorelines where humans encounter HABs. Our solution to this is OceanAlgaeTracker (OAT), a sensor buoy that will be capable of measuring the levels of the 5 major groups of algae independently by fluorescence. This will allow OAT to detect HABs earlier and will help correct satellite data. OAT will be low COGs (~$3000), light (10lbs), easy to set up and will have sophisticated anti-biofouling systems. It will be designed to minimize recalibration and to be ‘hot swappable’ with a new unit instead of doing maintenance on the water, reducing costs as a single boat can swap-out dozens of units. It will communicate with shore via satellite connection and be solar powered. Customers in water remediation, tribal, municipal, and state ocean monitoring agencies are the target market and have expressed interest.