October 1, 2013 — At this very moment, in 15 spots off the East Coast from Nova Scotia to Georgia, robots are surfing the depths of the ocean, taking its pulse.
The robots – commonly referred to as "gliders" because of the way they move through the water – are measuring all sorts of things, including temperature and salinity. They're assessing the phytoplankton at the base of the food web, and tracking when and how fish move.
In short, they're getting a detailed look at how the ocean works.
Scientists say the project, which involves 11 institutions and even more funders, is the most concerted effort of its kind to understand the marine environment.
They've dubbed it Gliderpalooza.
"I've been an oceanographer for a long time. The fact that we have come so far with the technology, that we can send this fleet of gliders out there and measure the ocean in three dimensions like we have never been able to do before, that wows me," said Zdenka Willis, director of the U.S. Integrated Ocean Observing System.