Seatrec Wins $75,000 from DOE to Advance Thermal-Powered Profiling Float to Measure Zooplankton
Seatrec Wins $75,000 from DOE to Advance Thermal-Powered Profiling Float to Measure Zooplankton
Partnership with ASL Environmental Sciences introduces a new capability for profiling floats to acoustically measure zooplankton biomass and its vertical distribution
VISTA, Calif. — June 24, 2026 — Seatrec, a leader in thermal-powered profiling floats, has been selected as a winner of the DEVELOP Phase of the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE's) Powering the Blue Economy™: Power at Sea Prize, earning a $75,000 award. The company is integrating ASL Environmental Sciences' Acoustic Zooplankton Fish Profiler (AZFP-pico) onto the infiniTE™ float powered by ocean thermal energy with a goal to measure vertical profiles of zooplankton and mesopelagic biomass. Seatrec previously won the CONCEPT Phase of the same competition in November 2024 with a $10,000 award.
"Measuring vertical profiles of zooplankton has been a dream for oceanographers," explains Yi Chao, Ph.D., Seatrec's founder and CEO. "Advancing to the DEVELOP Phase, and doing so alongside ASL Environmental Sciences, we are closer than ever to filling one of the most critical knowledge gaps in ocean science."
"This is genuinely uncharted territory," said Julek Chawarski, Ph.D., Biological Oceanographer at ASL Environmental Sciences. “The integration of ASL’s AZFP-pico with a long-endurance autonomous profiling platform could unlock an unprecedented view of meso- and bathypelagic scattering layers, providing persistent, basin-scale observations that have long remained beyond the reach of ocean science.”
Seatrec's infiniTE™ float converts ocean temperature gradients into electricity using phase-change materials, enabling long-endurance missions with profiling as frequently as every few hours. That sampling frequency is critical for capturing the diurnal behavior of zooplankton and mesopelagic organisms central to the biological carbon pump. The AZFP-pico provides quantitative assessment of meso- and bathypelagic biomass, while an integrated CTD captures physical oceanographic context, together delivering high-frequency, long-duration observations that ocean science has not had before.
The Power at Sea Prize, one of DOE's competitive programs, recognizes innovative marine energy concepts that could feasibly power blue economy applications, such as ocean-observing devices, aquaculture installations, and storm tracking systems.
DEVELOP Phase winners refine their technologies with support from industry mentors, networking opportunities, and targeted training, competing for a share of a $1.7 million final prize pool.
This milestone reinforces Seatrec's commitment to driving sustainable innovation in ocean technology and its mission to contribute to a thriving blue economy while addressing critical challenges in marine resource management and climate science.
ABOUT SEATREC
Seatrec designs and manufactures subsea drones that generate electricity from ocean temperature gradients. Our products empower defense and oceanographic researchers to extend mission durations, optimize data collection, and reduce operational costs. By enabling the integration of advanced sensors previously limited in endurance and functionality, such as hydrophones, we open new possibilities for ocean science.
Seatrec’s energy-harvesting core technology was developed at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and spun out of the California Institute of Technology in 2016. Seatrec is headquartered in Vista, California. Visit us at seatrec.com.
Media Contact
Marta Bulaich
Seatrec, Inc.
marta.bulaich@seatrec.com
+1 (415) 816-1665
Seatrec Wins Power at Sea Prize for Bold Plan to Map World’s Marine Resources Using Ocean’s Own Power
Seatrec Wins Power at Sea Prize for Bold Plan to Map World’s Marine Resources Using Ocean’s Own Power
Sustainably-powered autonomous float equipped with an active acoustic echosounder will map upper ocean pelagic habitats to address the critical knowledge gap in marine living resource distribution on a planetary scale
VISTA, Calif. – WEBWIRE – Thursday, December 19, 2024. Seatrec, a renewable energy company that harvests energy from temperature differences in the environment, was named one of 20 winners of the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Powering the Blue Economy™: Power at Sea Prize. This recognition comes with a $10,000 award for the company’s groundbreaking concept: mapping the world’s marine resources using a subsea robot equipped with a side-looking echosounder and powered by the ocean’s thermal energy.
“Long-endurance data collection in remote areas of the ocean has always been restricted because batteries are insufficient and ships are too expensive to power high-end sensors like echosounders,” explains Yi Chao, Ph.D., Seatrec’s founder and CEO. “Our technology unlocks the ocean’s temperature differences to power those sensors, and the Power at Sea Prize helps fuel our vision of sustainable exploration to better understand our blue planet.”
Seatrec’s goal of developing a thermally-powered profiling float equipped with echosounder sensors will provide an innovative and critical path to map upper ocean pelagic habitats by measuring zooplankton, which plays a vital role in aquatic ecosystems and the planet’s overall health.
This echosounder float will profile as deep as 1,000 meters and surface every six hours, capturing diurnal variations at key times (sunrise, noon, sunset, and midnight). During ascent, the side-looking echosounder will map zooplankton and mesopelagic organisms smaller than 10 cm at various distances from the float. When sufficient thermal gradients exist, the energy harvesting system will convert temperature differences into electricity. Upon surfacing, the float will report its position and transmit data via satellite. Initial deployment is proposed for Monterey Bay, leveraging the area’s existing sustained observing system to validate this novel zooplankton measurement modality.
The Power at Sea Prize, one of DOE’s competitive programs, recognizes innovative marine energy concepts that could feasibly power blue economy applications, such as ocean-observing devices, aquaculture installations, and storm tracking systems. Twenty teams across the United States were awarded in this first CONCEPT Phase, competing for a total prize pool of $200,000.
Matthew Grosso, WPTO Director, praised the winners: “The CONCEPT Phase winners delivered the out-of-the-box ideas we were looking for as we work to harness the potential of marine energy for offshore applications. We look forward to seeing their progress in the prize’s next phase.”
Seatrec will advance to the DEVELOP Phase of the competition, where teams will refine their technologies with support from industry mentors, networking opportunities, and targeted training. Final winners will share a $1.5 million prize pool to further develop their innovations.
This recognition reinforces Seatrec’s commitment to driving sustainable innovation in ocean technology. With this award, the company continues its mission to contribute to a thriving blue economy while addressing critical challenges in ocean exploration and resource management.
For more information about Seatrec’s award-winning technology and ongoing initiatives, visit www.seatrec.com.
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, resulting in the most scalable, cost-effective deep ocean data collection possible. The company is headquartered in Vista, CA. Visit us at www.seatrec.com and @seatrecinc.
Media Contact
Marta Bulaich
marta.bulaich@seatrec.com
+1 (415) 816-165