a collaborative control method for tracking lagrangian coherent structures and manifolds on flows employs at least three autonomous underwater vehicles each equipped with a local flow sensor . a first flow sensor is a tracking sensor and the other sensors are herding sensors for controlling and determining the actions of the tracking sensor . the auvs are deployed in a body of water whereby the tracking sensor is positioned with respect to the herding sensors such that the herding sensors maintain a straddle formation across a boundary . a local flow velocity measurement is obtained from each auv ; and based on the local flow velocity measurements a global flow structure that is useful for plotting an optimal course for a vessel between two or more locations is predicted .