In this proposed pilot project, interactions between the Agulhas Current and coastal and shelf regions are investigated using data collected from two autonomous Seagliders (autonomous robotic platfoms). The Seagliders are set to profile the water column within the 100m and 1000m depths contours, in the oceanic shelf regions of Algoa Bay and St Francis Bay. The Seagliders measure a wide range of seawater variables (temperature, salinity, pressure, dissolved oxygen, light, bio-optics) that are then communicated back via satellite in real-time to land or ship-based users for analysis.
The two Seagliders were deployed between the 16th and 24th of April 2015 from the M.V. Algoa as part of the one of the activity of the ASCA deployment cruise.