Seahorse: a Moored Profiler
Wave energy has been harnessed to power an oceanographic instrument that is first in its class. The Seahorse is capable of high-frequency, extended profiling of water properties. Constant human supervision at the oceanographic station is not necessary since the instrument is anchored to the seafloor and is left to collect samples on its own. Shiptime is only needed for the deployment and the recovery.
The moored profiler was invented by George Fowler of the Bedford Institute of Oceanography and developed into a working prototype by the Ocean Physics staff of the Ocean Sciences Division at the institute. This innovative monitoring device has been patented by the Crown and is currently being manufactured, under license from Fisheries and Oceans Canada, by Brooke Ocean Technology, Ltd. of Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. Development of the instrument was funded by the Canadian Panel on Energy Research and Development (PERD).
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