Maine Maritime Academy has partnered with Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution to assist with deploying six Argo floats during this summer’s training cruise. The floats will be deployed at six different identified locations in the Atlantic Ocean, with the deployment of the first and second floats scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday of this week.

What is Argo – Argo is an international program that measures water properties across the world’s ocean using a fleet of robotic instruments that drift with the ocean currents and move up and down between the surface and a mid-water level.  Each instrument (float) spends almost all its life below the surface.  The name Argo was chosen because the array of floats works in partnership with the Jason earth observing satellites that measure the shape of the ocean surface.  (In Greek mythology Jason sailed on his ship the Argo in search of the golden fleece). You can learn more about this program at https://argo.ucsd.edu/about/.

Once the floats are in the water you will be able to track them and see the data they generate within 48 hours at the following website: https://argo.whoi.edu/solo2/maps/2024cruises.html (it will be under a Maine Maritime Academy tag).