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Fine-scale Measurements

March 23, 2016

Researchers from the University of KwaZulu-Natal watch as a sensor-equipped Slocum Glider takes measurements off the east coast of South Africa. WHOI physical oceanographer Louis St. Laurent is collaborating with UKZN professor of civil engineering Derek Stretch to measure minute changes in turbulence, salinity, and temperature in the waters of Sodwana Bay. The area is known for charismatic species like whale sharks, manta rays, and fish called coelacanths, a “living fossil” that was once thought to have gone extinct millions of years ago. Laurent wants to find out whether the bay’s waters have distinctive microscale properties that could help explain its unusual ecosystem.(Photo by Sean Whelan, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)