Patent ID: 7052348

Claim:
A device for traversing a water body and for reducing the number of birds in the vicinity of the water body, said device comprising: (a) one or more floats having sufficient buoyancy to maintain a portion of said device above the surface of the water body; (b) an electrically-powered propulsion system adapted to transport said device across the surface of the water body, without the need for continuous monitoring or input from a human; (c) an electrically-powered collision prevention system to detect potential collisions before collisions occur, and to cause said propulsion system to alter the direction of transport of said device to avoid at least some detected potential collisions before collisions occur; all without the need for continuous monitoring or input from a human; (d) an electrically-powered navigation system adapted to cause said propulsion system to periodically transport the device within the characteristic distance of at least 75% of the surface of the water body at least once every two hours; and (e) a power source to supply electrical power, directly or indirectly, to said propulsion system, to said collision prevention system, and to said navigation system; whereby: (f) the transport of the device on the water body causes a reduction in the number of birds in the vicinity of the water body as compared to the number of birds that would be present in the absence of the transport of the device.