In March 2013 the R/V Endeavor , along with the R/V Sarmiento de Gamboa , will embark on a 32-day return voyage to the SPURS study site (white box, above) in the North Atlantic Ocean. The se cruises will include the recovery and maintenance of floats and autonomous oceanographic equipment left by research scientists the previous fall, as well as deploying a series of new surface salinity drifters and conducting additional regional surveys. The map depicts the SPURS study site with "X" marking the location of the WHOI mooring, deployed in September 2012 by the R/V Knorr. The background is color coded to represent saltiness (salinity) at the ocean surface: orange areas correspond to high salinity (37 grams per kilogram or higher).