Question: what are you aiming to learn from building these animal like submarines? is it the behaviour of animals? technological advancements? or both?

Ryan Ladd answered on 17 Jun 2011:

The theory is that animals have had millions of years to become really efficient swimmers whilst humans have only been driving boats and submarines for a few thousand and using propellers for just a couple of hundred. By copying fish and other swimming animals we hope to solve problems and improve our technology to a whole new level.

You’re right though, research in this area helps us better understand the behaviour of these animals as we need to understand, not just how they swim but why they swim the way they do. For example, it’s believed that dolphins jump out of the water in the ocean not for fun but because it’s a more efficient way to swim at certain speeds. Basically, for fast swimming dolphins, it’s harder to swim underwater than it is to jump through the air!