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A QuadPod

WHOI engineer Kevin Manganini heads toward Martha’s Vineyard aboard the research vessel Discovery to deploy this undersea instrument, called a QuadPod. WHOI scientist Peter Traykovski is leading research to investigate how unexploded munitions, left behind from past military exercises, are moved and buried along the coast. Set on the seafloor, the QuadPod houses current meters that measure water flow and turbulence and downward-aiming sonars that track how sand is moved by tides, currents, and waves. The researchers also deploy tubular devices (on pallet, bottom right) on the seafloor. They mimic the shape of munitions and send out acoustic signals that the QuadPod can “hear.” (Photo courtesy of Peter Traykovski, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)