In August 2026, Nortek team members joined a team of researchers from the University of South Florida on a cruise to retrieve and redeploy two Nortek Signature 100s as part of an
In August 2026, Nortek team members joined a team of researchers from the University of South Florida on a cruise to retrieve and redeploy two Nortek Signature 100s as part of an ongoing research project off the Gulf Coast.
The Deepwater Horizon oil spill of 2010 highlighted the need to better understand and protect the ecosystems of the United States' Gulf Coast. Following the spill, the RESTORE Act of 2012 established funding for the recovery of the Gulf Coast, resulting in the creation of the Florida RESTORE Act Centers of Excellence Program (FLRACEP) at the University of South Florida (USF). Since being initiated in 2015, FLRACEP has funded more than 30 projects, supporting fisheries, ecosystem monitoring, mapping and ocean observing technologies.
Currently, USF has research teams studying the De Soto Canyon area south of the Florida panhandle, where the continental shelf drops off steeply, creating a hotspot for marine biodiversity. Their research goals include investigating circulation patterns in the area, observing how the shelf break influences zooplankton communities, and in turn, better understanding the community of Rice's whales in the area, critically endangered baleen whales local to the region. The project titled "Rice's Whale Ecology, Associated Ocean Circulation and Habitat" (REACH)
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