Substrate Vibration Exposure Experiments with Dungeness Crabs
The team studying particle motion and substrate vibration has been making progress with the installation of three new seawater tanks in Sequim that will initially be used for substrate vibration experiments on Dungeness crabs. The tanks have been filled with marine sand and the team has assembled the shaker/stinger system used to generate substrate vibrations in the experimental tank. Currently, the team is testing the equipment in the tanks while a suite of sensors (e.g. triaxial accelerometers, vector sensor, video cameras) are being installed and integrated into a centralized data acquisition system to measure and characterize the vibrational field in the tank. Preliminary work is currently underway with a handful of crabs in the holding tanks which will be used to develop husbandry protocols and begin initial observations for potential behavioral changes in the crabs with tidal exchanges and other environmental sensitivities (e.g. lighting) prior to the substrate vibration exposure trials. Stay tuned for more updates from the tanks!
Male Dungeness crab eating a mussel during feeding time in the holding tank in Sequim. (Photo by Joe Haxel | Pacific Northwest National Laboratory)
Collision Tests at the Flume
The Blade Integrated Collision Detection team is gearing up for testing at the University of Washington Harris Hydraulics Lab Flume. The University of Washington (UW) is actively working on commissioning and characterizing the flow conditions that can be achieved in the flume with an active grid used to generate turbulence. The team will be doing testing with a turbine in these conditions in the coming weeks, so stay tuned for more updates!
Spotlight: Environmental Technology Readiness for Marine Energy
Panelists are introduced at the Environmental Technology Readiness for Marine Energy panel. (Photo by Cailene Gunn | Pacific Northwest National Laboratory)
At the UMERC Conference + Ocean Renewable Energy Conference 2025, Joe Haxel chaired a panel titled “Environmental Technology Readiness for Marine Energy”.This session highlighted successful environmental monitoring technology development investments made by the US DOE Water Power Technologies Office. Triton helped each of these developers move through their technology readiness goals. The panel discussed the progress made in environmental effects monitoring over the last decade, and aimed to answer the following questions:
Do we have the technologies and methods necessary to collect consistent and standardized data that promotes transferability, fill knowledge gaps, and remove barriers for marine energy deployment?
What technology gaps still remain?
What next steps are needed to address priority environmental monitoring needs?
The panel began with Andrea Copping, who is a senior advisor and researcher at PNNL, setting the stage with a recap from two workshops which were hosted in 2010 and 2013 that focused on environmental effects and instrumentation to measure those effects. Key environmental stressors discussed in these workshops included collision risk, underwater noise, and cumulative effects. Outcomes included a need for monitoring to be proportional to risk, the need for automated data processing and instrument integration, and the necessity of broad international collaboration for efficient monitoring.
Panelists included Joe Haxel, PNNL; Brian Polagye, UW; Andrea Copping, PNNL; James Joslin, MarineSitu; Grace Chang, Integral Consulting; and Tim Acker, BioSonics, Inc.
The following speakers received technical assistance through a WPTO funding opportunity announcement intended to close gaps identified in the workshop, and they highlighted the progress they’ve made over the last decade following this support:
Tim Acker, president and CEO of BioSonics, discussed the Omnidirectional Marine Life Observer, a synchronized omni-sonar with low frequency sound reduction. BioSonics worked directly with PNNL to modify their devices by reducing transmitted power, reducing sound frequencies below 200 kHz, and improving data processing capabilities.
Director of Research and Development at Integral Consulting and senior science advisor, Grace Chang, highlighted the NoiseSpotter—a passive acoustic monitoring device capable of directional acoustic measurements using particle velocity. With Triton’s support, the NoiseSpotter advanced from a laboratory prototype to a field-tested instrument that has now been deployed around the CalWave xWave Demonstration and the UW tidal turbine deployed in Sequim Bay and has supported many other applications.
James Joslin, founder and president of MarineSitu, worked with Triton and UW to advance the Adaptable Monitoring Package. This instrument package aims to reduce costs and complexity of monitoring systems and promotes streamlined data management. This technology captured over 1000 marine animal interactions using automated optical and sonar detection during a tidal turbine deployment in Sequim Bay. Now MarineSitu is working with industry partners like Morlais Tidal Energy Project and Menter Môn with monitoring, scaling, and data management.
Brian Polagye, professor of mechanical engineering at UW, described the Drifting Acoustic Instrumentation SYstem (DAISY)—a drifting spar buoy designed for operation in energetic waves and currents. Different versions of the system exist to meet monitoring needs at a variety of sites: a Shallow DAISY was developed to monitor underwater noise around a river current turbine in Igiugig, Alaska, while another variant is designed to measure underwater noise around wave energy converters.
If you want to learn more about each of these technologies, please reach out to each of our distinguished panelists. To learn more about Triton’s unique capabilities to provide industry support to advance high-priority technology development, check out our website.
The Triton team at OREC! (Photo by Hayley Farr | Pacific Northwest National Laboratory)
Triton Stories: Marg Daly
Marg enjoying a day at the beach in Santa Cruz, CA. (Photo courtesy of Marg Daly)
We are highlighting Triton staff members who are making waves in marine energy science and engineering in a new Triton Stories series. Our next story features Marg Daly, an Earth scientist at PNNL who is combining her expertise in physical oceanography and machine learning by leading Triton’s Data Annotation for Marine Monitoring project. To learn more about Marg’s career path and her work with Triton, read her story here.
News
Marine Energy Careers Panel
Are you interested in being part of the future of marine energy? PNNL’s Triton Initiative and OES-Environmental teams, in collaboration with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and Sandia National Laboratories, hosted an informational Marine Energy Career Panel featuring Department of Energy national laboratory staff working to advance the marine energy industry.
Staff across various research disciplines discussed their marine energy careers (past, present, and future), including their background, education, career path, and current projects. They discussed topics including mentorship, networking, and interpersonal communication skills for students who are preparing to graduate and enter into internship experiences or the marine energy workforce. Watch the webinar here.
As Triton makes progress on its diverse research projects, we have also been working to update our website to showcase our efforts to advance marine energy in the United States. To learn more about our current projects and meet new members of the Triton team, explore the updated website here.
Have Feedback or Content Recommendations? Let Us Know!
Do you have questions about marine energy or our environmental monitoring research? Do you have any feedback, comments, or suggestions for the Triton team? “Ask Triton” is an open-comment survey that allows you to easily send over your comments or questions about the Triton Initiative. Submit your questions and feedback here.
Triton is designed to support the development and testing of more precise and cost-effective environmental monitoring technologies for marine energy. Pacific Northwest National Laboratory leads Triton on behalf of the Department of Energy’s Water Power Technologies Office.
Connect With Us
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, 902 Battelle Blvd, Richland, WA 99354
.jpg?upscale=true&width=1120&upscale=true&name=ME%20Career%20Panel%20Graphic%20-%202025%20(1).jpg)
