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Flying escorts

Alvin pilot Mark Spear photographed two brown pelicans escorting R/V Atlantis from Puerto Caldera, Costa Rica after taking on fuel and loading science equipment in January. The largest of the ships WHOI operates, it carries the submersible Alvin and travels the world’s ocean, rarely returning to its home port. When Atlantis docks in Woods Hole in September, after four years away, it will be a special occasion for all of Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.(Photo by Mark Spear, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)