Anchor Away!

Credit: Rebecca Travis © WHOI.

Credit: Rebecca Travis © WHOI.

Credit: Rebecca Travis © WHOI.

Credit: Rebecca Travis © WHOI.

IRMINGER: The moorings at the OOI Irminger Sea Array vary from 1.5 to 2 miles in length.  To deploy them, the ship starts miles away from the target location and as it steams towards the target, we build the mooring off the stern of the ship.  By the time ship arrives at the target location, the full mooring is trailing behind the ship with just the anchor still sitting on the deck.  As the ship passes over the target point, the anchor is pushed off the stern of the ship, failing to the seafloor and pulling the mooring into place.  A 7,000 lb anchor makes quite a splash!