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Sophisticated Sampler

April 8, 2014

Scientists have long used nets to collect specimens. The MOCNESS is a souped-up version of its humble cousin, with multiple nets to sample at varying depths and sensors that transmit data to shipboard computers through a cable. Here, students Jon Fincke (WHOI) and Paola Batta-Lona (University of Connecticut) deploy the system from the R/V Connecticut on a 2010 cruise to collect zooplankton in canyons along the Atlantic continental shelf break. The study, led by WHOI scientists Gareth Lawson, Peter Wiebe and Andone Lavery studied whether the creatures create feeding areas, attracting larger marine mammals and seabirds.(Photo by Peter Wiebe, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)