What are Blusinkies?
Blusinkies are small apple-sized disks, made of our carefully designed and patented material. When deployed in the ocean, these disks act as a substrate for benthic organisms and over time are able to mineralise carbon emissions into units that have the potential to naturally transition into pink carbon nodules on the seafloor. We aim to turn areas where Blusinkies are deployed into carbon removal powerhouses by optimising ecological enhancement for effective carbon sequestration, locking away the carbon for thousands to millions of years
How do we make them?
First we take waste material from brick and ceramic factories, agricultural farming and other industrial processes and combine this in special formulas to create our patented material. Over 95% of the material that forms a Blusinkie is made from waste, which not only enhances circularity but also makes our production very cost effective, with raw materials contributing to less than 3% of our operating costs!
We mold this material into a disk shape (we have studied which geometry provides the optimal surface area and porosity for population) and fire it to transform it into a durable, hardened material. Our Blusinkies are essentially a ceramic material with ocean liming properties, which won't degrade, have a high tolerance to dissolution cause by ocean acidification and won’t release substances that could affect the marine environment. Once the disk has been heated, it is ready to be deployed!
Best of all, the materials that Blusinkies are composed of are widely present in the ocean naturally - meaning we don't have to worry about adding untested material to the ocean environment. Essentially Blusinkies mimic calcite seafloors which are already there, and enhance the natural seafloor composition when it comes to Rhodolith growth rates specifically.
How do they work?
Blusinkies act as an artificial substrate for benthic organisms to attach to. Benthic organisms are creatures that live on, in or near the bottom of aquatic environments like oceans, seas, rivers and lakes. The play a crucial role in their ecosystem, contributing to nutrient cycling, decomposition and serving as food for other aquatic species. Some benthic organisms, such as coralline algae, are carbon capture and storage species.
Without a suitable substrate, benthic organisms face challenges in establishing themselves and forming stable communities, leading to population decline. When Blusinkies are deployed, they are initially colonised by pioneer species such as bacteria, who appear in high abundance on the surface of a Blusinkie within only a few weeks after being underwater. Next the Blusinkies are populated by intermediate species such as funghi and eukaroytes (for example algae). Finally, the Blusinkies are colonised by a diverse community of species, predominantly coralline algae but also other eukaryotic organisms like green algae, brown algae, polychaetes, bryozoans and arthropods. At this point, which typically occurs within 6 months to 1 year of deployment, the Blusinkies become fully modular ecosystems - acting as a self-contained, self-sustaining ecosystem.
The final step of the magic happens when the coralline algae that have attached to the Blusinkie, grow by depositing calcium carbonate in their cell walls, giving them a pink, red, or purplish color (rhodoliths). By incorporating calcium carbonate into their structure, calcified algae act as carbon sinks, storing carbon in the form of CaCO₃. When detached from their original Blusink base, rhodoliths continue to grow outward in a three-dimensional shape as free-living organisms. They become self-sustaining, adding new layers of calcified algae as they roll around on the seafloor, which gives them a unique structure distinct from coralline algae that remain attached to a substrate.
Importantly the benefit of Blusinkies is that we do not introduce new species into a local habitat; we only provide a foundation for native species to settle on. If something isn't meant to be there, it won't be there!
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