You never know if you will recover the VMP (Vertical Micro Profiler) once deployed. Once it dives, you can only rely on the electronics that is supposed to release the weights at a prescribed pressure so that the instrument comes back at surface. But sometimes … it hits the bottom before the weights are detached. That's what happened tonight, and obviously, it got stuck a little while in the mud. Fortunately, it came back a few hours later (than expected) and we steamed back to recover it at night. We should call it a VIP, because it knows how to be expected!

In the night, we can see the VMP at surface 5 miles away thanks to its strobe light.

A nice and smooth recovery. Back home again !

A sample of the bottom for the biologists

Bruno and Rafael, the captain, are much relieved !