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Rapid Rescue

February 18, 2013

In the aftermath of Blizzard Nemo, WHOI’s coastal research vessel Tioga (shown here in 2005) found itself speeding out to sea on a rescue mission. The storm cast adrift one in a network of moorings set up in Boston’s shipping lane to detect whales and alert ships to avoid collisions. The buoy had drifted more than 70 nautical miles and was headed for Europe on Feb. 13 when Tioga was called into action. With WHOI mooring technician Will Ostrom and Tioga‘s captain Ken Houlter aboard, the team caught up with the buoy some 30 nautical miles east of Chatham, Mass. Despite rough seas, they recovered it. It was just the sort of rapid-response capability WHOI had in mind when it commissioned Tioga in the early 2000s.
(Photo by Craig Marquette, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)