Named By The Internet, Submarine 'Boaty McBoatface' Heads For Its Maiden Voyage

It should be readily apparent by now that you just don't ask the internet to name things. They'll promote the silliest, most inappropriate, or just plain crude name they can come up with. It's how the internet works. So placing that naming responsibility with the internet is just wasted time. However, one thing the internet named actually stuck — sort of — and it's about to become a real world thing doing important science. 

The internet voted to name a state-of-the-art British research vessel Boaty McBoatface. They didn't get their wish, but in a compromise, three unmanned submarines now bear the internet's wisdom on their hulls.

And the first of the three is on its way to its first mission, a serious science posting in Antarctica.

The first Boaty McBoatface is being deployed on the RSS James Clark Ross — not the ship that the internet was voting on — as part of a project aimed at better understanding the effects of climate change.

Although they bear a silly name, the Boaties have some incredible capabilities. They'll dive deep below Antarctic waters — 3.5 km deep — to assess water flow and measure ocean turbulence.

Scientists believe the turbulence Boaty McBoatface will measure is spreading warm waters throughout the ocean, which could drive sea level rise and disrupt ocean floor habitats.

"There are 'rapids' and 'waterfalls' that are occurring within the channels and valleys that surround underwater mountains in the passage," Dr. Eleanor Frajka-Williams from Southampton University told the BBC. "Boaty is going to make measurements within these 'streams' and 'rivers' of the smallest-scale motions to try to understand how that water is being changed as it leaves the formation regions around Antarctica and then spreads out over the world's oceans."

Meanwhile, the other two Boaties are being prepped for other expeditions. It turns out the scientific community loves Boaty McBoatface as much as the internet does.

"We're getting lots of proposals and it's great that we can meet that demand," said Professor Russell Wynn of the National Oceanography Centre.

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