Two Men, a Boat, and a Float

WHOI engineers Jim Dunn (foreground) and Matt Gould test an acoustic-release float in Woods Hole Harbor. The float is packed with thousands of feet of line and designed to sit atop anchors for large moorings such as those of the NSF-funded Ocean Observatories Initiative (OOI). The 6,000-pound stainless steel anchors are meant to be re-used. When the release is triggered, the float rises, carrying one end of the line to the surface, where technicians waiting on a ship can hook the float and recover the anchors. (Photo by Tom Kleindinst, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)