Friday, May 22, 2009

Undersea Science 1000 Feet Above the Water

Photos from todays flight above East Sound, WA. Looking for plankton. We ran about 20 tracks up and down the sound, profiling the water to about 15 meters depth. Two flights today for a total of 3 hours in the air and 250 miles of distance covered. Most plankton are in layers between 8 and 12 meters deep.

There are many jellie blooms in the sound. This is understandable given the abundant plankton in the are. It's a spectacular sight from a plane.

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Pilot Jay and myself on taxi.

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Looking across the islands at the south end of the sound.

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At work.

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Jellies in a bloom.