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Aubrey grimaced at the wordplay "There are better ways to find these puppies than tagging sperm whales Thermal expansion causes the water inside an eddy to create a bump in the ocean that can be traced by satellite"
"What causes ocean currents to shed these eddies?" Trout said
"That's one of the things we hope to learn on this expedition You two are ideally suited for the project Gaical expertise to the question, and we're hoping you can coood at"
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"Thanks for inviting us aboard We'll do our best," Gamay said
"I know you will This goes beyond pure science These big swirls can be real weathermakers A stalled ocean eddy off the California coast can produce cold temperatures and rain in LA Si off the Gulf Strea"
"Not much we can do about the weather," Trout said
"That's true, but knohat to expect will allow us to adapt to it The ocean eddy survey could be vital to the nation's econo and the flow of petroleuo depend on accurate weather forecasting"
"Which is why NOAA is so interested in e're doing," Trout said
Aubrey nodded "That reot to talk to the captain about our schedule" He rose from his seat and pumped their hands "I can't tell you how pleased I aet-to-know-each-other party tonight" He slid the napkin across the table to Trout "There will be a quiz on this uy"
Luckily for Trout, Aubrey was only joking about the quiz, although the orientation was comprehensive And by the time the survey ship dropped anchor, both Trouts had becoe point of the ship's deck, the sea in the vicinity of the swirl looked no different from any other part of the ocean, but satellites and co at approximately three miles per hour
Trout had done soraphics of the ocean bottom in the vicinity of the swirl, and Gaical applications The phytoplankton survey was a vital piece of her research, which hy she was so anxious to get it out of the way
With the Zodiac rocking in the troughs betaves, they lowered a Neuston net over the side The net had a rectangular, tubular fra, which allowed it to sae volumes of water They let out the line so that the net floated partially out of the water Then they ht out in a radius fro an eye on the white-hulled NOAA ship to ood The net was bringing in solid samples of plankton
Trout had put theCamay make a last haul when they looked up at the salances and stared off at the ship Nothing see about on the deck
Ga sparkle on the surface of the sea as if the sun were a fluorescent bulb on its last legs "Look at the sky," Gamay said