Robot fish exploring mysteries of the deep

WASHINGTON - When exploring marine environments, underwater robots tend to be a bull trout in a china shop, disturbing marine life with their bulk and disruptive propulsion. Enter SoFi, the soft, agile robotic fish with a delicate demeanor.

Scientists said on Wednesday they have created a remote-controlled robot that swims quietly through coral reefs and schools of fish and uses a fisheye lens - of course - to capture high-resolution photos and video with a camera built into its nose.

Dubbed SoFi, it can swim forward, move up and down, turn and change speeds, propelling itself by wiggling its tail side to side like a real fish, a motion created by pumping water with a small motor into two balloon-like tail chambers. SoFi, built with a generic fish design, is white, weighs less than 1.6 kilograms and is about 47 centimeters long.