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Underwater Milestone

October 30, 2018

The autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) Sentry passed a milestone in October 2018, when it completed its 500th dive. The free-swimming, programmable robot was designed and built by WHOI engineers and completed its first science mission in 2008. Since then, as part of the National Deep Submergence Facility, Sentry has mapped the plume of oil flowing from the Deepwater Horizon wellhead, located the voyage data recorder on the sunken El Faro cargo ship, and mapped the fallout from largest known underwater volcanic eruption. It has also been equipped with a wide and growing range of sensors and samplers, greatly increasing its service to researchers. (Photo by Sean Kelly, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)