Ahoy, fellow BlueBoat explorers!
We’re thrilled to announce a fintastic new partnership with Austin Greene, lead scientist for the Washington Department of Natural Resource’s (WA DNR) Aquatic Reserves Program. This program is making waves by studying and stewarding over 90,000 acres of state-owned aquatic treasures—think kelp forests, seagrass meadows, and serene freshwater habitats. Shout out to Cerulean for providing an Omniscan for this effort!
Finding Seagrass with Side Scan Surveys
We recently wrapped up a quick proof-of-concept side-scan survey with the legendary @philparisi, friend of Blue Robotics. The mission was a total success, and the collected data was transformed into a stunning mosaic using SonarWiz. 
Seagrass in the Spotlight
Spotting large bed-forming seagrasses like Zostera and Thalassia can be tricky, but the Omniscan side scan sonar nailed it—check out the clear delineation of these underwater meadow edges! Even shallow-water erosion from a nearby creek mouth was visible, making this survey a real catch. 
screenshot of SonarView interface at the moment of bed detection!
geotiff overlayed on map
Plot Your Course
Want to dive deeper into the data? You can drop the geotiff file into QGIS to see the full extent of the survey on a map. This guide will help you overlay satellite imagery like a pro.
Don’t Just Take Our Word for It
If you’re skeptical, check out this Instagram reel where Phil takes a deep dive for firsthand verification. Seeing is believing! 
Free Data? Shell Yeah!
We’ve made the raw dataset public for anyone who wants to test the waters before investing in equipment. You can view and export the .svlog raw data with SonarView! 
What’s Next?
By the middle of 2025, a fully-fledged guide created in collaboration with Austin will be available to help you map seagrass beds like a pro using the BlueBoat and Omniscan. This will be used by the WA DNR to train volunteers to collect the data each year, and see how the dynamics of the ecosystem change with time. We’re also hoping to experiment with developing features typically only found in high-end sidescan systems, like auto-ranging based on depth. Stay tuned for more updates—this is just the tip of the iceberg. Please give us your feedback on what sort of sonar data or surveys you’d like to see!