Spray, the automatic glider which made history last fall as the first autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) to cross the Gulf Stream, is currently speeding away from Bermuda towards the continental United States on its second crossing.

The six foot long orange glider is slowly making its way north west after being launched about 12 miles south-east of Bermuda last week. With its four foot wingspan, the glider will cross the Gulf Stream and reach the continental shelf on the other side before turning around and heading back. It is expected to be recovered in July.

The 112-pound vehicle had its inaugural launch last fall from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) on Cape Cod.

Scientists Breck Owens (WHOI), and Russ Davis and Jeff Sherman of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California in San Diego, will track its progress.

The scientists communicate with the AUV via satellite to change its course or alter the information it is gathering while the remotely operated vehicle is at sea. Spray is travelling away from Bermuda at roughly 12 miles a day, measuring various properties of the ocean as it glides from the surface and back down to 1,000 metres below the surface three times a day. Every seven hours Spray spends about 15 minutes on the surface relaying information via satellite.

With a range of 3,500 miles, Spray could potentially cross the Atlantic without being slowed down by basic human necessities such as food, water or rest.