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Trek to the Tower

The tower in the background stands a mile south of the island of Martha’s Vineyard, and it’s helping scientists track even the tiniest changes taking place in the North Atlantic. It is part of the Martha’s Vineyard Coastal Observatory (MVCO), and it together with nearby seafloor instruments gather minute-by-minute measurements on currents, sunlight, and much more, and transmit data instantly to an onshore lab. Researchers use this information to spot changes such as earlier blooms of certain plankton that many marine creatures eat. Here, Ian Hanley, first mate the WHOI coastal research vessel Tioga prepares to service some instruments on the MVCO tower. (Photo by Sean P. Whelan, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)