This is an ongoing mission involving two annual glider deployments in Puget Sound intending to establish a large dataset that provides insight into seasonal and temporal changes in water properties.
O – Ocean
T – Tech
T – Time Series using
E – Experimental
R – Research
S – Seagliders
UW OTTERS, started in Spring of 2025, will deploy two seagliders every Spring and Autumn in the Main Basin of Puget Sound south of Whidbey Island. The gliders will complete both East/West and North/South transects to collect data on water masses moving in and out of the Sound at all levels of the water column. Gliders will be deployed for two-week periods which will allow for variation in tidal cycles to be recorded. This time series dataset will include temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen, fluorescence, and backscatter measurements providing insight on biological activity and mixing of the water column. The Student Seaglider Center aims to make this data publicly available and hopes that it proves useful for other research projects in the Puget Sound region.
Meet our OTTERS team
Will Menapace
Principle Investigator
Katie Kohlman
Principle Investigator
Ayden van den Berg
Principle Investigator
Lydia Kelley
Lead Pilot
UW Student Seaglider Center 