From Polliwogs to Shellbacks.
Written by Nathaniel Mollica | PhD student, MIT-WHOI Joint Program in Oceanography.
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute.
06 May 2018
Photo by Richard Brooks, Lightening Strike Media Productions, Palau
Today reached the equator, and the science began.
As the trade winds push water west across the Pacific, the movement is balanced by a deeper counter-flow back to the east known as the Equatorial Under-Current (EUC). The current is narrow and deep—it spans just 2 degrees of latitude on either side of the equator and flows 50 to 200 meters (125 to 500 feet) below the surface. The EUC is cold and nutrient-rich and we are attempting to capture samples to measure the chemistry of its waters…
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