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Ocean Science Lifeline

WHOI engineer Jeff Lord secures a safety line used to recover a moored surface buoy and all of its instruments in case the mooring line breaks. The backup floatation system visible in the water consists of a string of glass balls encased in yellow plastic “hard hats” attached to the buoy, which is trailing about three miles behind the ship. This work was part of the Salinity Processes in the Upper Ocean Regional Study (SPURS) research in the North Atlantic Ocean aboard R/V Endeavor in March 2013.(Photo courtesy of Alec Bogdanoff, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)