161214-N-PO203-011 PACIFIC OCEAN (Dec. 14, 2016) A robotic arm aboard the Auxiliary General Oceanographic Research (AGOR) vessel R/V Sally Ride is used to retrieve a scientific instrument that measures underwater conditions in the La Jolla canyon during science verification cruise designed to test installed systems and ensure readiness for conducting future research missions. Operated by Scripps Institution of Oceanography under a charter lease agreement with the Office of Naval Research (ONR), Sally Ride has multi-beam bottom-mapping and ocean current profiling sonars, advanced meteorological sensors and satellite data transmission systems, the latest navigation and ship-positioning systems and a specially designed hull that improves sonar acoustic performance. The Navy, through ONR, has been a leader in building and providing large ships for the nation’s academic research fleet since World War II. (U.S. Navy photo by John F. Williams/Released)