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Capture and Recovery

Senior scientist Rob Olson (reaching) recovers an instrument attached to an orange float off the shore of Martha’s Vineyard. RV Mytilus operator Matthew Gould handles a line from scientific diver Sean Whelan in the water. The team switched out the FlowCytobot instrument, which was developed at WHOI to continuously monitor and record individual organisms in the ocean, including information on the size and even pigment characteristics of cells in the smallest phytoplankton. It can also transmit data back to the Martha’s Vineyard Coastal Observatory where scientists study the interaction between wind, waves, and ocean-mixing processes. (Photo by Sean Whelan, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)