Our Norwegian collaborator has managed to recover 14 RAFOS floats during his cruise, including one that has been drifting at the surface for over a year.

The floats send out GPS positions every half hour, making it possible to estimate their position quite accurately. Once you’ve made it to the position you’ve got to find them. RAFOS floats consist of transparent glass tubes with electronics inside, and only about 30 cm of the tube stick out of the sea surface. Fortunately the cruise had fair weather and calm seas!