oceanography

Meet the scientists and their underwater drones tackling the 'weirdly complicated' world of ocean carbon

Meet the scientists and their underwater drones tackling the 'weirdly complicated' world of ocean carbon

It's that rarest of rare conditions along coastal Newfoundland: a dead calm day. By 7 a.m., the crew aboard the fishing boat Belle of the Bay are taking full advantage of it, steaming out of the harbour in Heart's Content under dazzling July sunshine, with their sights set on a prized catch in the middle of Trinity Bay. It's not fish they're after. The object awaiting them looks like a mashup between a torpedo, a banana, and a Dash 8 — a type of underwater drone, called a glider.