Long metal tubes protrude from the bow and stern of a research boat headed toward a blue hole off Long Island in the Bahamas. Scientists lower the tubes to the seafloor to extract cores of sediments that settled to the bottom of the blue hole. Blue holes are naturally occurring deep holes in the seafloor. They are ideal basins to catch coarse-grained particles swept in by passing hurricanes. Researchers in the WHOI Coastal Systems Group are examining the sediments to reveal past patterns of hurricane and ocean temperatures, which can help us predict and prepare for hurricane activity in the future. (Photo courtesy of Pete von Hengstum, Texas A&M University at Galveston)
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