Image

Reach for it

Performing a tricky maneuver in rising seas during Alvin‘s recovery to R/V Atlantis, swimmers Dave Walter and Allison Heater reach for the hoisting line from the ship’s A-frame; the two already had attached a tether to the back of the sub. After securing the hoisting line, all that remains is to haul the 35,000-pound vehicle with its three-person crew onto the back deck of the ship, secure it, and roll it into its dedicated hangar. This photo was taken in December 2010 during Alvin‘s mission to study cold-seep and coral communities in the Gulf of Mexico, it’s last before undergoing a major upgrade. Alvin is scheduled to return to operation in late-2012.(Photo by Ken Kostel, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)