BEACHCOMBER
Spy v spy
As if poor old mantas weren’t put upon enough by the human race, it seems that our own Royal Marines are now trialling underwater drones disguised as the rays to snoop on the warships of unfriendly powers. Made by Oxford-based Animal Dynamics, the Raydrive is described as virtually undetectable.
If only real mantas were undetectable. The Bootnecks had better be careful where they deploy their pet rays – set them free in certain tropical seas and they’ll have had the rakers off them in seconds.
Talking of China, one of its enterprising companies, Boya Gongdao, has been showing off its own new improved 2m Robo-Shark. The propulsive tail-fin can speed it along silently at 6.5mph, complete with camera and three types of sonar.
BOYA GONGDAO
BEACHCOMBER
This will also be military hardware, of course, so we could soon have robo-rays spying on robo-sharks and vice versa. How long before they’re armed, too?
But no need to worry about the ocean fast being emptied of real animals – we divers will still have “big stuff” to capture on camera under water. And it will be capturing us on camera right back.