The underwater observatory gives scientists the ability to observe and begin to unravel all the factors that combine to sustain the oceanic ecosystem?how fresh water, plant detritus, sediments, chemical, and other materials run off the coasts; how they mix into the sea, increase turbidity, change the penetration of light, and add nutrients; how all these influence marine life, from microscoic plants to corals and fish; and how these change after storms and over seasons.
(Courtesy of Scott Gallager, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)[back]
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