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ACTIVE ACOUSTICS TO TRACK VERTICAL MIGRATION

Although there are gigatons of fish in the Ocean Twilight Zone, surprisingly little is known about them. With a generous gift from the Happel Foundation, WHOI scientists are building the first long-term observation network that will provide an around-the-clock view of life in the twilight zone, over an area spanning more than 155,000 square miles (250,000 square kilometers).

ROAM FISH TAGS

MESOBOT & AUVS

Illustration by Natalie Renier, WHOI Creative, © Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

AN ALWAYS ON, ALWAYS CONNECTED OCEAN TWILIGHT ZONE

MINIONS

Revealing the Secrets of OTZ

DATA MULES

Quiet, autonomous robots with modular payloads use cameras and lights to noninvasively track and study swimming and drifting animals, and track the fate of descending particles in the twilight zone.

Swarms of miniature “smart” floats image and measure carbon transport through the twilight zone.

Surface vehicles receive data from instruments below and relay them to shore via satellites

Ultracompact acoustic sensors record the position of large predators such as swordfish, sharks, and tuna by detecting sounds produced by an array of moored sound sources.

Bioacoustic moorings continuously detect and monitor biomass of mesopelagic fish and zooplankton within the twilight zone and as they migrate to the surface.