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A Flexible Floatilla

Research vessels like the R/V Knorr need to be flexible. Depending on the objectives of each expedition, the ship might be outfitted with any number of moving parts that must handle the rigors of ocean science research. Here, WHOI mechanic Richard Edwards Jr. (right) and Kevin King secure an articulating “man basket” off the stern of the Knorr while the ship was in port in Bridgetown, Barbados, during the summer of 2010. The man basket was to be used as part of a mission to deploy the WHOI Long Core to extract deep samples of the ocean floor in order to study climate in the northern subtropical Atlantic.(Photo by Tom Lanagan, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)