Pollution-hunting robot fish takes to the sea

A new technology designed by scientists at the British consultancy BMT Group is supposed to reduce the time it takes to detect a pollutant in water from weeks to seconds. Developers are hoping it will sell to port authorities, water companies, aquariums and anyone with an interest in monitoring water quality. It could also have spin-offs for cleaning up oil spills, underwater security, diver monitoring or search and rescue at sea. These fish look-alikes are 1.5 meters long, are designed to swim like real fish and are fitted with sensors to pick up pollutants leaking from ships or undersea pipelines. “Chemical sensors fitted to the fish permit real-time, in-situ analysis, rather than the current method of sample collection and dispatch to a shore-based laboratory," said Luke Speller, a scientist at BMT who led the project.