How Do Underwater Drones Clear Fishing Lines From Wind Cables?

Will O'Brien says floating offshore wind in California runs into abandoned fishing lines that snag on the power cables in the water and then catch dolphins and whales. That entanglement is one of the biggest objections to the projects.

Ulysses is building a surface and underwater vehicle that maps those cables every day, checks whether they are still in good condition, and looks for lines caught on them. When a line is caught, an implement on the vehicle cuts it off the cable.

A ship and a crew used to be the way to watch a cable. A robot that can patrol the line and clear the debris is the ocean job this vehicle is being sold to do.