Science in All Sizes

Antarctic science comes in all sizes. In 2006 two research ships and an inflatable boat, all carrying scientists, were juxtaposed against the slopes of volcanic Deception Island off Antarctica: the U.S. icebreaker R/V Laurence M. Gould (left, 230 feet), the British research vessel James Clark Ross (325 feet), and a 12-foot inflatable from the Gould carrying WHOI researchers. WHOI scientists are studying the large and small of the Antarctic ecosystem, from whales and penguins, to invertebrates, to tiny plants and microbial life, as Antarctica’s climate warms. (Photo by Larry Madin, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)