KILROY IS HERE!

What is the ORCA Kilroy™?
Kilroy is a water-quality monitor unlike any other. Hardly larger than a football, at a fraction of the cost of other sensors, Kilroy nimbly monitors the water’s speed, direction, temperature, salinity, and prevalence of key microorganisms—the vital signs of our living waters. And it does so 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Biological properties are assayed with the Kilroy bathyphotometer (BP) a device that can monitor common primary producers (plants) like dinoflagellates and keystone predators like comb jellies.

Why do we need Kilroy?
Simply put, our oceans are in deep trouble. We have waters erupting in toxic blooms of algae, red tides bringing outbreaks of paralytic shellfish poisonings, and masses of fish washing up dead on shore. We have seals turning up with fungal infections, sea turtles covered in tumors, dolphins falling sick from mercury poisoning and we have lifeless waters called dead zones, spreading wider every year.

How does the ORCA Kilroy help?
Kilroy lets us monitor the physical, chemical and biological indicators of health in a particular body of water. More importantly, when we find signs of trouble, we can track them to their source, both in space and time. Until now, enforcement of pollution laws has been near impossible. We haven’t had the evidence to show who is polluting. It’s like expecting a cop to enforce the speed limit without a radar gun. Kilroy’s steady, reliable stream of affordable information promises to empower citizens, communities and their lawmakers alike to identify the source of water pollution and then work to stop it..

How does it do that?
Kilroy reads the water. Fluid though it appears, water ironically flows in packets—packets that can be identified by their temperature and salinity, their speed and direction—as well as you or I can read each other’s faces or hand-writing. These packets of water tend to pool in certain places called sinks, as does that accidental flush of stormwater sewage, or that toxic spill of diesel fuel. And when they do, Kilroy is there.

Yet for every sink, there is, of course, a source. And once again, the ubiquitous Kilroy is there, connecting one to the other. Kilroy is designed to work in vast networks transmitting these vital signs over hundreds of miles of ocean. When bad things happen out there, Kilroy immediately tells us here, the ‘who-what-when-and-where’. And with that knowledge comes the ‘how,’ toward healing the wounds.

Who created the ORCA Kilroy?
ORCA hired its Principal Engineer, Dr. Eric Thosteson, in 2006 to lead the company's efforts in developing
the world’s first marine habitat water quality monitoring system of its kind. The design and development of this low-cost marine ecosystem monitor, have been carried out by Eric and his team: Ocean Engineer, Tony Cimaglia, Instrumentation Engineer, John Taylor, Computer Scientist, Ben Burns (2007-2009) and Field Engineer, Jerry Corsaut.

How did you ever come up with the name, Kilroy?
Kilroy, as you may remember, was also a WWII legend, appearing as a cartoon character mysteriously scrawled here and there. Everywhere you went, “Kilroy was here." We at ORCA developed this device with the hope that it will soon become as ubiquitous, yet inconspicuous, as Kilroy was. We envision one day hanging our sign above a nation of revitalized and vibrant waters, proudly declaring, ‘Kilroy is here.’