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Sophia Merrifield and Dave Fratantoni launching a surface drifter.

Sophia Merrifield and Dave Fratantoni launching a surface drifter.
Sophia Merrifield and Dave Fratantoni launching a surface drifter.
Sophia Merrifield and Dave Fratantoni launching a surface drifter.
Sophia Merrifield and Dave Fratantoni launching a surface drifter.
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(42°4′27″N, 69°54′29″W)
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371923
Woods, Nick
Sophia Merrifield and Dave Fratantoni launching a surface drifter.
Still Image
05/25/2011
graphics/Woods_Photos/_DSC0033.JPG
Images feature PO Joint Program students Sophia Merrifield and Nick Woods, led by Dave Fratantoni. They are deploying three profiling floats (yellow instruments, standing vertically), one autonomous glider, and one surface drifter (2x4 with white sheets attached), in order to study the physics and biology off the coast of Cape Cod. The profilers and glider were equipped with acoustic sensors in order to detect whales (especially right whales), as well as a suite of sensors to determine the physical characteristics of the environment. The surface drifter sends its position via satellite, which is recorded to give a sense of the surface flow. Departing from Provincetown on the NOAA vessel Auk, they headed around Race Point, and deployed the instruments about 20 miles offshore. In addition to the instruments deployed, a small hand-held CTD (small orange instrument in photos with Sophie) was used to measure water properties.
Image of The Day caption:
Sophia Merrifield, a student in the MIT/WHOI Joint Program, prepares to deploy a surface drifter with the help of WHOI physical oceanographer Dave Fratantoni about 20 miles off the tip of Cape Cod. As it drifts, the instrument reports its position via satellite, which tells scientists about the speed and direction of surface flows. In this experiment, done in collaboration with James Manning of the Northeast Fisheries Science Center, the researchers used many kinds of instruments to study water movements that affect the distribution of copepods, small crustaceans that are the major food source for the endangered North Atlantic right whale.
Photo by Nick Woods
© Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
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