Jean-Luc Fuda and his colleagues from the OPLC (Océanographie Physique, Littorale et Côtière) and SAM (Service Atmosphère et Mer) teams at the MIO (Institut Méditerranéen d'Océanologie) have designed and built a profiler to measure vertical marine currents.
The VVP (Vertical Velocity Profiler) is the instrument in the foreground of the photo.
Two divers accompanied the prototype's very first trials and provided photo and video coverage to document its behaviour in situ. The Antédon II, a vessel of the French Oceanographic Fleet, in the background of the photo, safely launched the VVP in the Marseilles harbour.