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Bear-ing Away

March 8, 2014

The research vessel Bear, shown here steaming out of Woods Hole, was built during World War II to carry troops in the South Pacific. After the war, WHOI saw the vessel’s potential to contribute to marine science, and in 1952 purchased the 103-foot boat. During the next decade, Bear made 193 research trips in the western North Atlantic, venturing as far as Bermuda. The vessel made acoustic, bathymetric, and seismic measurements, and was used for fish observations. In 1962, WHOI sold Bear to a New Bedford-based fisherman.(Photo by Charles Spooner, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)