These supersized clownfish robots could be coming to waterways in the Middle East

Startup Aquaai wants to use fishlike underwater drones to help the protect the planet’s water resources.

The world’s oceans, lakes and rivers are under mounting pressure from climate change, growing demand, urbanization, and pollution, threatening their ability to sustain life. Without better data to understand the health of increasingly stressed waterways, the fight to save these most precious of resources will be ineffective, says Simeon Pieterkosky, co-founder of the technology company Aquaai. “Virtually every waterway is polluted to an extent where the ecosystem just can’t balance back anymore,” he explains. Aquaai is aiming to fill that information gap using fishlike drones that collect data from underwater environments. Powered by batteries, they are designed to look and swim like fish, with a body and tail that swish from side-to-side as they cruise through the water. With their orange, white, and black neoprene skin, they resemble the clownfish star of the 2003 hit movie “Finding Nemo.” The standard version is about 4 feet long (1.3 meters) and weighs 65 pounds (30 kilograms) and can be equipped with cameras and sensors to measure metrics like oxygen, salinity and pH levels. Pieterkosky, who has a background in animatronics for horror movies, was motivated to build the robots after his eight-year-old daughter learned about the ocean crisis and asked him to help protect the seas. He says it’s important that the drones can integrate into natural habitats — swimming among other creatures without disturbing them and maneuvering around obstacles smoothly. The company has put its technology to use in California, where it was founded, and in Norway, where it has a subsidiary. It has operated in both fresh and saltwater, near dams, and in harbors and fish farms, checking things like water quality and fish health. Many fish farms use fixed sensors to monitor water quality, but CEO and co-founder Liane Thompson says this can be inefficient in giant pens, where fish might gather away from the sensors; instead Aquaai’s robots swim alongside the fish, collecting data wherever they go.