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Mission Brief The Monk is drifting.On June 23rd, the Monk was at 39.1239°N, 55.4052°W — carried by currents, thermoclines, and the physics of the deep. |
01The Challenge
Somewhere in the North Atlantic, a profiling float named "The Monk" is drifting — guided by currents, thermoclines, and the physics of the ocean. It's one of Seatrec's infiniTE™ floats, powered by thermal energy harvested from the temperature gradient between warm surface waters and the cold deep.
We know its last confirmed position. What we don't know — and what we're asking you to figure out — is exactly where The Monk will surface on July 5, 2026 at 11:59 PM PDT.
No hints. Just your read of the ocean, or your most inspired guess. Use the live tracker to study its trajectory. Dig into Gulf Stream data. Or go with your gut. Closest guess wins — ties broken by earliest submission.
Contest Brief
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📍 Last Confirmed Position ON 6/23/26 39.1239°N, 55.4052°W ⏰ Contest Deadline July 5, 2026 · 11:59 PM PDT |
🔍 Track Live 📅 Position Updates REVEALED Until June 28, 2026 · 11:59 PM PDT |
02What Is the infiniTE™ Float?
The infiniTE™ is Seatrec's flagship ocean profiling float, designed to operate autonomously for years without battery replacement — harvesting energy from the ocean's natural temperature gradient to power itself and collect critical oceanographic data on every dive cycle.
The Monk has been tracing the currents of the Atlantic, and its track tells a story of eddies, meanders, and the Gulf Stream system. Where it ends up next is yours to predict.
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Win the Exclusive Seatrec T-Shirt
The winner receives this exclusive Seatrec "Infinite Energy · Deeper Insights" infiniTE™ T-shirt — limited edition, not for sale.
One Winner · Closest Coordinates Wins
03How to Enter
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STEP 01 Study the trackerWatch The Monk's trajectory at the live tracking link. Positions update through June 28, 2026 · 11:59 PM PDT. |
STEP 02 Make your predictionPick a latitude and longitude for where The Monk will surface on July 5, 2026 at 11:59 PM PDT. |
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STEP 03 Submit coordinatesDrop your numbers into the official entry form before the deadline. |
STEP 04 Win the shirtClosest entry wins. Ties broken by the earliest valid submission. We'll announce the winner shortly after July 5. |
04Coming Soon: Float Modeling Webinars
Seatrec will be hosting webinars on real float-modeling techniques — ocean current analysis, Argo float data, and trajectory prediction with public datasets. Stay tuned for dates.
Drop Your Coordinates
Ready to Outguess the Ocean?
The Monk is waiting to be found. Closest coordinates win.
Submit Prediction →Open Live Tracker
Contest run by Seatrec. No purchase necessary. Open to residents worldwide, ages 13+. Entrants under 18 must have parental permission. Void where prohibited. Winner contacted by email.
Seatrec Launches Initiative to Boost Cost-Effective Seafloor Mapping
Seatrec Launches Initiative to Boost Cost-Effective Seafloor Mapping by Developing Autonomous Echosounder Float Powered by Ocean’s Temperature Differences
Project funded by Schmidt Marine Technology Partners brings seafloor mapping dream team together with transformative and sustainable tech to map the 80% of ocean bottom still uncharted at high-resolution
VISTA, Calif. (Oct. 27, 2021) – Seatrec, a renewable energy company that harvests energy from temperature differences in the environment, today launches a project to develop an autonomous echosounder float powered by clean, sustainable energy. With funding from Schmidt Marine Technology Partners, a program of the Schmidt Family Foundation founded by Wendy and Eric Schmidt, Seatrec will provide the float and power system while New Hampshire-based Airmar Technology Corporation, in collaboration with Innomar Technologie GmbH based in Germany, will provide the active acoustic echosounder for high-resolution mapping.
“Eighty percent of the seafloor has not been mapped at high-resolution - an area roughly twice the size of Mars - and covering an area that large using ships and today’s state-of-the-art autonomous platforms will cost billions of dollars,” explains Yi Chao, CEO and Founder of Seatrec. “This initiative brings together a seafloor mapping dream team with the transformative technology needed to create a sustainably powered method for mapping the ocean floor for a fraction of the cost compared to ships.”
The project is led by Larry Mayer, a professor and Director of the Center for Coastal and Ocean Mapping at the University of New Hampshire.
“The ocean’s resources are critical to supporting and sustaining all life on Earth and it’s shocking how little we know about something as fundamental as the seafloor,” observes Mayer. “It’s imperative that we develop the next generation of ocean mapping technologies to support the international community’s unprecedented effort to finally map the seafloor at high-resolution -- there’s no time to lose.”
Indeed, the world is racing to map the seafloor to help manage living resources, improve marine navigation, and guide infrastructure construction, as well as better defining the impacts of current and future human activity. The Nippon Foundation-GEBCO Seabed 2030 Project is a first-of-its-kind international effort to facilitate the complete mapping of the seafloor by 2030 and is a major contribution to the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development (2021-2030).
However, two critical obstacles stand in the way of success: energy and cost.
Mapping the 80% gaps of the global seafloor will cost an estimated $3B using ships burning diesel fuel and emitting carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. A robotic revolution resulted in the growing use of autonomous vehicles to reduce the cost of using ships and the associated carbon footprint. Seatrec’s technology to harvest energy from the ocean thermal energy is transformative and provides a cost-effective and sustainable solution to deploy a fleet of subsea robots at a fraction of the cost of ships.
“Mapping the seafloor provides fundamental and critical data we need to protect the health of our oceans but such a massive undertaking requires innovative and sustainable solutions from the best and brightest,” points out Erika Montague, the Chief Technologist of the Schmidt Marine Technology Partners. “This initiative provides a path forward towards better understanding and protection of our ocean.”
About Seatrec
Seatrec designs and manufactures energy harvesting systems that generate electricity from naturally occurring temperature differences in ocean waters. This renewable energy can be used to power deep water oceanographic research equipment such as floats, gliders, and Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs), resulting in the most scalable, cost-effective deep ocean data collection possible. Incorporated in 2016 by CEO, Dr. Yi Chao, Seatrec’s technology originated at NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, to provide clean power for remote off-grid locations. The company is headquartered in Vista, CA. Visit us at www.seatrec.com and @seatrecinc.
Media contact
Sean Yokomizo
+1 925.878.1200
CNN: Electric robots are mapping the seafloor, Earth's last frontier
https://www.cnn.com/2021/10/26/tech/seatrec-bedrock-robot-seabed-mapping-climate-spc-hnk/index.html
EarthSci Show with Aryan Shah and Yi Chao
In this episode of the EarthSci Show, host Aryan Shah and our CEO Dr. Yi Chao, discuss the dynamics of seafloor mapping, what Seatrec does to accelerate such a process, and where he envisions Ocean Exploration and Blue technology in the decades to come.
Check out the podcast and watch the video on Youtube.