2011 Photo Highlights : 2011 Annual Report

1. Steve Lambert, John Kemp, Rick Krishfield, and Jeff Pietro (l-r) of WHOI pause after successfully deploying an ice-tethered profiler (ITP) in an ice floe in the Beaufort Sea in August 2011. From the yellow float on top of the ice, a plastic-jacketed cable hangs down through the floe and deep into the sea below. A cylindrical instrument continuously crawls up and down the cable, taking measurements of water properties such as salinity and temperature, which it then relays to scientists on shore. This deployment was part of the Beaufort Gyre Exploration Project, a long-term, multi-institution effort to learn about the movement of fresh water through the Arctic Ocean. (Photo by Mary-Louise Timmermans)

2. On a foggy August day off the coast of Greenland, photographer Rachel Fletcher took a ride in one of R/V Knorr's small boats (also known as an RHIB) to photograph icebergs and caught this fleeting glimpse of the ship through the mist. Fletcher is currently on board Knorr with WHOI's Robert Pickart, who is leading the cruise to search for the origins of a newly discovered current that flows south along the seafloor through the Denmark Strait. Follow the latest news from the ship through Sept. 23 on the cruise website. (Photo by Rachel Fletcher, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)

3. WHOI physical oceanographer Dave Fratantoni watches as a Slocum glider heads away from the ship during a test run. The glider operates without a tether and moves up and down through the water by changing its buoyancy. On this research cruise, Fratantoni and colleagues in the Autonomous Systems Laboratory used several kinds of instruments, some mounted on the glider, to detect whales and the zooplankton they prey on and to measure physical characteristics of the marine environment. The orange float attached to the glider during the test run was removed before the glider set off on its three-week mission. (Photo by Nick Woods, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)

4. Participants in the 2011 Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Program gather for a 10-week research program, which has been in existence at WHOI since 1959. Each group is made up of graduate students and researchers from a variety of fields who share a common interest in the nonlinear dynamics of rotating, stratified fluids. Under the program, which includes vigorous discussion on a variety of fields, fellows pursue a research project under the supervision of the staff and present a lecture and a written report for a proceedings volume. (Photo by Tom Kleindinst, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)

5. WHOI physical oceanographer Dave Fratantoni prepares a Slocum glider for deployment on a research mission (in this picture, the glider’s wings have been removed). The glider moves up and down through the water by changing its buoyancy and before each mission, researchers program it to follow a certain course for a specific amount of time. They also equip it with sensors, such as the black acoustic Doppler current profiler seen here, which measures water velocity and estimates the abundance of zooplankton that are the primary food of North Atlantic right whales. (Photo by Nick Woods, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)

6. Research engineer Fred Thwaites, associate scientist Kurt Polzin, research specialist Ruth Curry, and engineer Kevin Manganini (left to right) recover a High-Resolution Profiler onboard R/V Knorr during the month-long DynaMITE cruise in May 2011. DynaMITE is a field program investigating how dense bottom waters in the Atlantic are transformed into warmer, less dense water masses in the abyssal ocean. (Photo by Carolina Nobre, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)

7. Engineering Assistants Jim Ryder and Jeff Pietro assemble the tether of an Ice-Tethered Profiler (ITP). ITPs operate autonomously to acquire temperature and salinity measurements from the upper ocean under sea ice while drifting with the ice floes, and transmit information back in near-real time. Eight ITPs will be deployed throughout the Arctic this summer to augment those already in the field. Four will be deployed on a Beaufort Gyre Observing System cruise on the Canadian Coast Guard icebreaker Louis S. St. Laurent. Follow live daily dispatches throughout the duration of the cruise.

(Photo by Tom Kleindinst, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)

8. Life aboard a research vessel moves quickly. In this time-lapse photo from the R/V Knorr, Chief Scientist Ruth Curry oversees the deployment of the High Resolution Profiler (HRP) in the western North Atlantic basin this spring. The HRP and other instruments make detailed measurements of deep mixing, temperature, salinity, nutrients and bathymetry. Researchers on the DynAMITE expedition want to determine how the dense cold plume of Antarctic Bottom Waters flow and are transformed into lighter water masses in the abyssal ocean. (Photo by Carolina Nobre, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)

9. Researcher Terry McKee drains excess water from bottles on the rosette sampler after taking samples for analysis of water properties. This May-June 2011 cruise on R/V Knorr, led by scientist Ruth Curry, is part of a project studying deep circulation and currents in the Atlantic Ocean near Bermuda. "At the moment," McKee said, "I was enjoying the difference in temperature between bottle 1, collected at the bottom of the cast at about 6000 meters and bottle 24, collected at the surface. The bottom temperature is about 1.5 degrees C (35F) and the surface is about 25.5 degrees C (78 F.) (Photo by Carolina Nobre, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)

10. Researchers George Tupper and Ruth Curry pull in the High Resolution Profiler (HRP) after a mission in the western North Atlantic in 2011. When the HRP is put into the ocean, it measures ocean temperature, salinity, and flow speeds at tiny (microscale) intervals as it descends more than three miles to the ocean floor. Then it jettisons ballast weights and rapidly returns to the surface with its cargo of data. Curry leads a project using the HRP and other instruments to determine how cold, dense waters from the Antarctic circulate and mix over rough seafloor topography near the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. (Photo by Carolina Nobre, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)

11.

WHOI engineers Jeff Pietro (left) and Kris Newhall attached a cylindrical profiler instrument to a wire hanging into the Arctic Ocean recently near the North Pole. Pietro, Newhall and senior research specialist Rick Krishfield (green parka) made a fast spring trip to the Arctic in April to install an Ice-Tethered Profiler (ITP) system, the latest in a series of ITPs monitoring changing Arctic Ocean conditions. The ITP drifts with the ice floe, measuring ocean properties day and night and transmitting the data to shore.

(Photo courtesy of Rick Krishfield, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)

12. Chris Holm of Oregon State University and WHOI engineers John Lund and Jeff Pietro (left to right) help load a Multi-function Node (MFN) onto the R/V Wecoma in preparation for a test deployment off the coast of Oregon in March 2011. The MFN, which was built at WHOI, is designed to house a variety of instruments to measure ocean attributes. It is a prototype of others that will be deployed as part of the Endurance Array of the Ocean Observatories Initiative, a long-term, multi-institution integrated system of moorings that will gather data about the ocean and seafloor. (Photo courtesy of John Lund, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)

13.

Engineering assistant Matthew Adams prepares "hardhat" floats for use in an upcoming project in the Lofoten Basin between Iceland and Norway in the far northern Atlantic. WHOI physical oceanographer Fiamma Straneo plans to study circulation and heat loss to the atmosphere in the basin by means of drifting RAFOS floats and an anchored profiling mooring. Each hardhat contains a hollow glass ball to provide flotation. Clusters of the floats will be attached to the mooring line to help support it while deployed and to help recover the instruments if the line becomes damaged.

(Photo by Tom Kleindinst, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)

14. After a year in the Red Sea, this tripod is sporting a colorful growth of coral. It was recovered by John Kemp and Jim Ryder during a cruise led by Tom Farrar. The tripod's acoustic doppler current profiler (ADCP) measured water velocity over the Red Sea shelf as part of a study headed by Steve Lentz and Jim Churchill through a collaborative partnership with King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) in Saudi Arabia. The data are being analyzed to better understand the dynamics of wind-driven currents and surface wave propogation over the Red Sea shelf. (Photo by Jim Churchill, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)

15. Research associates George Tupper (left) and Marshall Swartz check a CTD rosette, which measures the salinity and temperature of seawater at various depths, as Swartz's dog Little Bear takes a break. Both men have made major contributions to WHOI’s exploration of the oceans during their long careers. A modem designed by Swartz makes it possible to view photos taken at the seafloor in real time on a ship at the surface. Tupper recently reflected on how the "WHOI way of doing things" has contributed to many technical innovations such as this. (Photo by Tom Kleindinst, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)

16. Engineering assistant Christopher Ross splices a "hardeye" (galvanized thimble) into 7/8-inch, 8-strand nylon line in the WHOI rigging shop. After positioning the hardeye, he spliced the rope back into itself--about an hour's worth of work. Ross learned how to splice line from WHOI co-workers such as Rick Trask, Larry Costello, Steven Murphy, Mark Lambton, and Dara Tebo. The line he was working on is destined for use in a mooring in the Southern Ocean. (Photo by Tom Kleindinst, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)

Last updated: July 6, 2012