Alvin Takes a Bow

A crane lifts the submersible Alvin off the WHOI dock to load it onto R/V Atlantis for a research cruise to the Gulf of Mexico. The crane isn’t bending—it’s appearance is due to the distortion caused by several images being stitched together. The sub did, however, take a public bow recently at WHOI’s “Meet Alvin” open house. Alvin will be deployed with the autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) Sentry December 7-14 on a cruise to study deep corals in the Gulf that will be featured on WHOI’s Dive and Discover website. After that, the sub will return to WHOI to undergo a complete upgrade. (Photo panorama by Tom Kleindinst, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)