Ship of Opportunity

Buoy and instrument that gets thrown overboard

The MV Explorer is consider a ship of opportunity for the conduct of marine science.  NOAA has an on-going request that when on its voyages various science projects be conducted.  On our voyage the ship's crew was instructed to deploy two buoys, with marine instruments to measure salinity, temperature, currents, every one degree while we sail from Ghana to South Africa.  I was invited to have my students participate in these deployments; each buoy has been assigned a number which will allow us to track their movement.

My students preparing to heave ho

I'm receiving information from crew member in charge of the project

The 15:15 deployment: buoys were deployed every 1 deg of latitude: about every 3 1/2 hours