<p>A yellow, torpedo-shaped robot named "Waldo" is on a journey to keep an eye on red tide bloom that has appeared near Englewood.</p><p>Mote Marine Laboratory deployed the underwater robot, also called an autonomous underwater vehicle, was deployed Friday morning off the coast of Englewood detecting red tide algae, its shape, size and other information. Red tide algae can cause respiratory illnesses, nausea and other health issues. So far no red tide algae has been reported on Siesta, Turtle and Lido beaches.</p><p>"Waldo has a critical job in the team effort to monitor and study this red tide bloom," said Dr. Gary Kirkpatrick, manager of Mote's Phytoplankton Ecology Program and creator of the BreveBuster, which helps collect information on the algae. "The AUV can stay at sea for much longer periods than researchers on a boat, and it can do its job in almost any kind of weather. It's important to have this kind of continuous monitoring to help ground-truth satellite images and to complement the more detailed information we're getting from our water samples."</p><p>During the next two weeks, the robot is programmed to move southward to an area offshore of Boca Grande pass and then head toward the last known edge of the bloom, according to Mote.</p><p><a href="http://sarasota.patch.com/articles/where-s-waldo-robot-searching-for-red-tide-bloom">Keep reading...</a></p><p>Read also:</p><p><a href="http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20121006/ARTICLE/121009747">Mote robot monitors red tide bloom</a> (Sarasota Herald-Tribune)</p><p><a href="http://www.baynews9.com/content/news/baynews9/news/article.html/content/news/articles/bn9/2012/10/5/robot_deployed_to_mo.html">Robot deployed to monitor red tide</a> (Bay News 9)</p><p><a href="http://www.mysuncoast.com/news/local/story/Mote-deploys-underwater-robot-to-test-for-red-tide/p_VkcRHnGEi1z35TUU3eIQ.cspx">Mote deploys underwater robot to test for red tide</a> (WWSB ABC 7)</p><p>Explore: <a href="http://news.google.com/news/more?ncl=dHes1ShPBuBaD9McW6UgG_dIg-ovM&ned=us">33 additional articles.</a></p>