Heavy Lifting

WHOI’s Mooring Operations and Engineering Group leader, John Kemp (second from right), and Senior Engineering Assistant Jim Ryder (left, red hardhat) recover a reel stand from off the starboard side of the research vessel Neil Armstrong at the Coastal Pioneer Array of the Ocean Observatories Initiative off the New England coast. A remotely operated vehicle pulls the line off the reel and attaches it to an object on the seafloor that needs to be recovered—in this case, a mooring anchor. After the reel stand is raised to the surface and brought on board as shown here, the line is connected to a winch that hauls up the anchor. (Photo by Rebecca Travis, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)