Sofar Ocean's affordable Spotter buoys, used by NOAA, DARPA, and Berge Bulk, are changing how metocean data is gathered globally, using its own data to create superior weather-routing for merchant vessels while also aiding science initiatives like Aqualink's coral reef monitoring.

The future of metocean data acquisition could be small, cheap and numerous, according to startup Sofar Ocean. The company has now released over 1,000 of its affordable Spotter drifter buoys, primarily in the Pacific, and it plans to use the results of a successful financing round to boost the number and cover the rest of the world's oceans.