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Totally Tangled Tethers

MIT/WHOI Joint Program student Kelly Rakow attempts to untangle the tethers attached to her fellow divers during a “blue water” dive off the Pacific coast of Panama. The tether system is used when diving in deep (often blue) water to ensure that divers don’t become disoriented or drift away when exploring the featureless and seemingly bottomless environment.  Kelly is using blue water diving and an underwater video camera to study barrel shaped, gelatinous organisms called salps at the Liquid Jungle Lab. (Photo by Andrew Gray, University of California, Santa Cruz)