Outboards to help dolphins

BALCATTA technology company Orbital Engine Corporation is throwing its weight behind a dolphin research project in Cockburn Sound.

Providing a boat powered by an outboard engine using Orbital’s fuel saving technology, the company will save about $30,000 for the project being conducted by Murdoch University’s School of Biological Sciences and Biotechnology.

The research will help identify the most important feeding grounds for dolphin and their calves in the busy sound, one of the key commercial waterways in WA.

Orbital has developed an air-assisted injection fuel system which improves fuel efficiency and reduces emissions significantly when compared to traditional two-stroke outboard motors.

The company’s technology is already used by automotive and marine manufacturers, Mercury Marine, Bombardier, and Aprilia and Peugeot Motorcycles.