Feature Image: Buoy Wrangling

The first CMOP research cruise of the year tested the team’s mettle. The R/V Oceanus proved it was a workhorse by plowing through 14-foot waves and battling head winds of 30 knots. As waves crashed around them, the crew wrangled an oceanographic buoy located 2 to 3 nautical miles southwest of the mouth of the Columbia River. The buoy is part of the SATURN observation network that collects physical and biogeochemical data on the Columbia River, from near Portland to the Pacific Ocean. (Photo by Clara Llebot/CMOP)