A curious-looking sea lion approached a boat I was sailing the other day. I had a good laugh with the crew on board about how it must represent the latest Naval surveillance technology…”look out, a seagull-drone also is watching”. It turns out the joke was really on us, according to a report this week by CNET.

At Pier 48 in San Francisco, the city’s police and fire departments, along with its Emergency Operations Center, conducted a drill demonstrating the ability of dolphins and California Sea Lions to help protect coastal areas from maritime attacks.

No word on seagulls but they fit nicely into this picture. Could an octopus could be trained? They would be able to operate without a mechanical clasp like the one required for a sea lion:

I have to wonder how mammals are evaluated for this job. It is not very clear from the story.

Using highly trained dolphins and sea lions selected for their quickness, intelligence, detection capability, and mobility, officials demonstrated the unique ability of these animals to identify and neutralize threats in cooperation with human teammates.

Selected? Obviously they do not enlist. Does this rule out monkeys? What about chimpanzees, pigs or birds? Are dogs the only other animal that has been drafted for US military training? How does the military account for the cost and time of training a dolphin or sea lion? An artificial shark robot seems like a more humane approach, maybe more cost-effective, to this kind of underwater explosive detection and removal operation.

Remember Roboshark2? I have not heard anything since the big splash in 2003.

The cost to secure approximately 2,000 sailors and their coaches in Weymouth, England has grown from £21 million to £38 million pounds. This of course is causing a controversy

Supt David Griffith, Dorset Police’s security co-ordinator, said: “It’s very key for myself and my team to ensure that we allow as much business as usual to carry on as possible, remembering that this is the Olympic Games of sailing, not the Olympic Games of security.”

It is always said that the Olympics bring significant infrastructure investments, such as building out the new Osprey Quay with community facilities, employment areas, marine works and housing. Perhaps £38 million in surveillance cameras and license plate recognition is generating opposition for reasons beyond pure cost — concerns about privacy after the games are gone.

NorCalSailing provides a sad special report with photos of how a practically new 10 meter sailboat lost way and was destroyed by the sea this past weekend.

Savage Beauty, a Flying Tiger 10 owned by San Francisco’s John Lymberg, expired on the rocks of the Marin Headlands in Saturday’s Second Half Opener race to Point Bonita. The race started near the Berkeley Pier, and boats short-tacked against a strong flood current, hugging the Marin shore for relief.

The photos reveal how amazingly close this 33 foot 5,000 lb boat with a 7.5 ft keel was sailing to the rocky shore. Sailing in light air, they were unable to break free of wave swell or make their way into a fast rising tide.

Once aground, their engine fouled and they had to abandon ship. Fortunately no one was injured.

You have undoubtedly heard about the unmanned air drones used by the military and intelligence organizations. Enter the unmanned water drone, introduced by Morrelli & Melvin Design & Engineering. They are perhaps most famous for multihull racing designs such as PlayStation and Stars and Stripes, but they also make industrial multis for everything from tourism to maintenance of sea windmills (the mast parks nicely between the hulls). The concept of a water drone incorporates the ability for automated missions over long periods of time. This makes sense, given the limited communications capability at sea.

The HarborWing X1 is a special purpose security and military vehicle used to patrol harbors, inland waterways and open ocean using only wind power. The batteries and computers on board can operate for up to 3 months at a time without human intervention.

I do not see any missile tubes or gun turrets but surely this is in the works, given the record set by other drones in service. The rigid sails might make it an easy target. Do they fold or drop for stealth? Can it deploy mines or detect them?

This also makes me wonder about sea rescue missions. Could a drone be developed for search and rescue in extreme conditions? Given the ultra-high resolution and infrared imaging technology, coupled with satellite communication, is a submersible drone that could locate and carry a small crew to safety the best answer for emergency response at sea?