Originally published by Ocean News & Technologu

Across more than 20 peer-reviewed papers, government field reports, and conference proceedings published since 2020, researchers have documented how the Spotter Platform excels in the most demanding ocean environments on Earth. Most Spotter deployments are moored—anchored in one location using conventional mooring or our Smart Mooring, and expected to transmit data in any conditions, testing the platform’s durability. The Great Lakes present a strong test case: winter storms that rival Atlantic coastal events, a freeze-thaw cycle, and a monitoring gap that conventional instruments haven’t been able to fill. During the season when conditions are most extreme, the instruments designed to measure those conditions are typically already onshore. Since 2020, Michigan Technological University and the Great Lakes Observing System (GLOS) have worked to close that gap, deploying Spotter across all five Great Lakes—including at remote, high-exposure sites like Stannard Rock in Lake Superior and Isle Royale that are inaccessible to conventional large-buoy deployments.