Page 53: of Marine Technology Magazine (October 2020)

follow boats. Over-? shing has affected the orcas’ food stocks, resulting in a

Ocean Startup Winners Named decline in the population of orcas, and increased maritime traf? c in the vicin- •

Marecomms Inc. (Halifax, NS) de-

The ? rst Ocean Startup Challenge ity of the busy Increased sea lanes near signs and builds broadband wireless awarded 14 companies with $25,000

Straits of Gibraltar have negatively im- communication solutions for mari- each to help them advance their tech- pacted their habitat.

time environments. RObust Acoustic nologies. They will also receive indus-

Marine biologists think this activ-

Modem (ROAM), has been put to try support, including coaching from an ity is con? ned to a single pod of killer numerous tests in the North Atlantic

Executive in Residence. The companies whales, because it is highly unlikely and shown to offer nearly 200 times were among 31 shortlisted to attend that such unusual behavior would oc- faster connection speeds. online bootcamps, receive one-on-one cur simultaneously with different pods. • qualiTEAS (St. John’s, NL) is a cor- coaching and pitch to the Ocean Start-

Scientists don’t know if the orcas are rosion inspection service company up Challenge ? nal judging panel last angry, confused, or just being “play- developing an AI-integrated image week. The Ocean Startup Challenge ful.” Their presence in these waters analysis software for near-real-time winners include: during the summer months is normal as detection of corrosion and cracks on • 3F Waste Recovery (Main Brook, they follow their favorite food, blue? n subsea assets.

NL) is a life sciences manufacturer tuna. Humans can accidently or inten-

SeaChange Biochemistry Inc. • focused on value adding local ? sh- tionally harass marine mammals-- it is (Clark’s Harbour, NS) creates chem- eries and natural resource waste illegal to purposefully harass marine icals for industry from sustainably streams into natural food, cosmetic mammals. However, experts say this harvested seaweed through an inno- and pharmaceutical ingredients.

apparently aggressive behavior by this vative biore? nery process.

Blue Lion Labs (Waterloo, ON) is • group of orcas is extremely rare. •

SeaHawk Robotics (Vancouver, providing ? sh farmers with an early

There are no known cases of humans

BC) develops and operates multi-do- warning sign of a sea lice event by being attacked and killed by orcas in main UAV-based ocean obs systems using an underwater camera system the wild. But Spanish maritime au- that disrupt current paradigms by powered by arti? cial intelligence. thorities are not taking any chances. improving access, increasing safety,

Glas Ocean Electric (Halifax, NS) •

They have warned mariners to “keep a and reducing costs of data collec- is building electric boat kits to con- distance” from any orcas.

tion. vert existing and new boats to elec-

By Edward Lundquist •

Subait Inc. (Dartmouth, NS) takes tric propulsion. a scienti? c approach to develop a

Grand River Robotics (Waterloo, • superior sustainable lobster bait sub-

ON) focuses on developing highly stitute based on seafood co-products, optimized robotic inspection plat- replacing environmentally challeng- forms with connected web-based ing commercial bait ? sh species. data back ends. Their AUV is an •

Tracker Inventory Systems (Syd- underwater robotic autonomous IOT ney, NS) provides aquaculture and solution that will minimize loss of seafood processing facilities auto- ? sh through frequent and complete mated inventory systems to reduce imaging of ? sh nets to ensure the operating costs and provide produc- rapid repair of holes.

tion visibility.

In Nature Robotics (Hanwell, NB) •

Virgil Group LLC (Washington, • designs and manufactures light-

D.C.) is developing legal ? sheries weight, low-cost, solar-powered, analysis software that goes beyond autonomous airboats for inland and traceability. coastal water monitoring and sur- WeavAir (Toronto, ON) provides an • veying applications. end-to-end hardware and software

Kavacha.ca (Canoe Cove, PE) uses • solution for vessel emission moni- ? sh waste to provide active protec- toring by using predictive algorithms tion to marine industries through that promote regulation compliance direct-to-metal coatings in harsh en- and operation costs savings for ship vironments. Their solution saves us- owners, ship managers and port op- ers more than 30% on material and eration teams. labor.

Submitted by Victoria Morris www.marinetechnologynews.com 53

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