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WHOI physical oceanographer Dave Fratantoni prepares a Slocum glider for deployment on a research mission (in this picture, the glider’s wings have been removed). The glider moves up and down through the water by changing its buoyancy and before each mission, researchers program it to follow a certain course for a specific amount of time. They also equip it with sensors, such as the black acoustic Doppler current profiler seen here, which measures water velocity and estimates the abundance of zooplankton that are the primary food of North Atlantic right whales. (Photo by Nick Woods, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)