Batter Up

WHOI engineering assistants John Kemp (swinging the pickaxe) and Kris Newhall (holding the chain) work to remove a large chunk of ice after it has been pulled out of an ice floe in the Beaufort Gyre north of Alaska. Researchers and technicians create the holes in order to sink instruments into the Arctic Ocean and study the temperature, salinity, oxygen content, and other properties. A WHOI expedition (including Newhall) is leaving this week to deploy several sets of instruments that can monitor conditions and currents in the water below the ice and help scientists understand how global change is affecting the health of the ice cap. (Photo by Christopher Linder, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)