The 1 OCEAN Foundation is proud to welcome a new member: Lily. This small underwater drone will be an essential tool for the Foundation's scientific missions.
October 2022 marked the start of a scientific exploration program on marine animal forests in the Mediterranean. On this occasion, team members were introduced to Lily, the 1 OCEAN Foundation's new underwater drone.
Equipped with a Sony Alpha 1 camera, Lily will be the eyes of scientists on future exploration missions. It can dive to depths of up to 1000 meters and travel at a speed of 5 knots. With its 16 hours of autonomous operation, Lily has a remarkable lookout capacity and will be able to assist scientists in the preparation of dives that can sometimes be very challenging.
"Today, we can dive to depths of over 100 metres, but these dives are extremely complex and you can only stay at the bottom for a short time. This is why underwater drones are invaluable working tools. We use them to make an initial assessment of the area or even to take simple samples. This in turn enables us to make more efficient dives and saves a considerable amount of time for Science."
Lorenzo BRAMANTI, Scientific Director of the "Deep-sea Noah's Ark: a future for biodiversity?
