Back on board

Engineers and crew aboard R/V Oceanus work to recover a deep-ocean mooring in the northwest tropical Atlantic in summer 2008. The mooring recovery/deployment cruise, led by physical oceanographer Al Plueddemann, allowed scientists to retrieve long-term data on the ocean and atmosphere collected by instruments fixed to a mooring line stretched between the surface and the seafloor—in this case, between 3,000 and 5,000 meters deep. Data on salinity, temperatures, currents, acoustic data, and atmospheric measurements all contribute to an understanding of how the upper ocean and atmosphere interact. (Photo by Jeff Avery, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)