Whale power!
Thanks to Lindsay Delp (081) who just sent me a Discovery Channel article about the fluid mechanical efficiency of cetacean fins and flukes. It turns out (ha!) that wind turbines can be made more efficient by roughening the leading edge of the blades. The idea was inspired by studying the bumpy fins of humpback whales.
Seems like a nice next step (alluded to in the article) would be for the Beam Reach boats to substitute robotic flukes for the propellers! I’ll bet the resultant propulsion would be not only more efficient, but also more quiet underwater. Perhaps some day the whole whale watching fleet will be using different flukes, optimized for making Zodiacs porpoise and deep-keeled boats thrust silently along at 5 knots?
