Dozens of onlookers, a trumpet player, a bubble machine, a pizza oven, and a small cannon were out on the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution dock, in Woods Hole, Tuesday afternoon to welcome home the research vessel Atlantis.
Since it last left Woods Hole, Atlantis has been to the Galápagos Islands, Easter Island, Axial Seamount, and the Aleutian Trench, up the Pacific coast and through the Panama Canal.
Between research missions and scheduled maintenance, the ship has been away for nearly four years.
WHOI Vice President for Marine Facilities and Operations Rob Munier said the Atlantis will be in Woods Hole through mid-June.
“The first project is going to be getting the Alvin submersible back aboard, because that’s been undergoing an overhaul," Munier said. "And the first mission is to test the Alvin."
That mission will take place in the Caribbean this summer.