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Belly of the Buoy

WHOI engineering assistants Brian Kelly (left) and Steve Caldwell (inside the buoy frame) mount instruments on the bottom of a large surface buoy destined for the South Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Argentina. The mooring is part the National Science Foundation’s Ocean Observatories Initiative, a network of moorings and instruments that collects a continuous stream of data and relays most of it to shore via satellite. Instruments on the surface mooring measure atmospheric conditions and air-sea interactions, while instruments beneath the surface measure physical, biological, and chemical properties all the way to the seafloor. All the data are accessible for free online. (Photo courtesy of Sheri White, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)