A big drifter deployment!
After sunrise we did more surveying to find a good location for an array of 48 drifters. We deployed this sequence of drifters along a transect to look at the flow of water at a series of depths. The drifters have different length cables so that the drogues (also known as “holey socks” because of their appearances), which pull them along, will be following the water at different depths. These drifters are special because they are mostly biodegradable, using canvas for the drogues and copper balls for floats instead of plastic. Even though studying the ocean is important, that doesn’t mean scientists get a free pass on ocean plastic pollution! And, of course, we do retrieve some of the things we deploy! It took a big team effort to deploy all of the drifters in a short time! Nearly all of the scientific staff and many crew members participated in this! This drifter experiment was designed by Irina Rypina and Ben Hodges at WHOI.
Surveying with the underway CTD at sunrise
drifter components on deck waiting to be assembled – copper float, canvas drogue, and metal cable to connect them, plus the GPS unit on top of each buoy.
Mat and Daniel lower a surface drifter into the water.
Four drifters in the water before their drogues sink
Benjamin and Noemi get ready to deploy a drifter that will track the flow at 100 meters!