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8 MTR November 2005 Miniscule life forms such as phytoplank- ton, bacteria, and viruses sometimes con- verge into patches called "thin layers." The centimeter- to meter-thick layers have den- sities as great as 1,000 times that of the water around them and can have profound effects on the way light and sound move through the water. Little is known about them, and they are the latest oceanographic mystery being investigated by the Office of Naval Research. A five-year, $9 million project dubbed LOCO, for "Layered Organization in the Coastal Ocean," is bringing together researchers from several universities and research institutions to answer the most basic questions about thin layers. Among them: Why, where, when, and how do they form and dissipate? Does the layering differ between nearshore and offshore environ- ments? What are the biological and optical properties of the layers? Can we create mod- els to predict their occurrence? One of the AUVs that will swim through the water and thin layers in Monterey is REMUS, developed by Hydroid, Inc., with support from ONR. LIDAR (similar to radar but based on light scattering), bioa- coustical instruments, and straight water sampling will also contribute to understand- ing thin layers. LOCO brings together researchers from the Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division Patuxent River, Md. (NAVAIR), University of California at Berkeley and at Santa Cruz, University of Hawaii, University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, University of Rhode Island, the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, Oregon State University, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, and BAE Systems. news Loco for Microscopic Sea Life Above: Dr. Mark Stacey of the University of California Berkeley (right), Chris Ostrander, and Brian McLaughlin of the University of Hawaii (middle and left) deploy a bottom mounted acoustic Doppler current profiler (ADCP) in Monterey Bay, Calif., during proj- ect LOCO (Layered Organization in the Coastal Ocean), which is funded by the Office of Naval Research. (Photo courtesy of Dr. Margaret McManus of the Univ. of Hawaii.) RIght: University of California Santa Cruz divers Craig Mueller (right) and Jared Figurski (left) participate in the LOCO (Layered Organization in the Coastal Ocean) proj- ect, which is sponsored by the Office of Naval Research. MTR#3 (1-16).qxd 11/15/2005 2:12 PM Page 10
