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FreshWater Monitoring and Sensors
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32MTRNovember/December 2011would look like a wreck, a pipeline would look like a pipeline, but when we first made the equipment the world did not know about side scan sonar. They did not know about high res sonar and in fact I personally would go to trade shows to introduce it to people. The first question everyone would ask was what is your range? How many miles can you see? Because people used to think of sonar for submarine hunting and sub sonar can see many miles,I would say, well its got a range of maybe 1000 ft and they would put their head down and walk away. It took a long time. I had to show pictures, here is a shipwreck this is an oilrig. We were one of the first people who would go to the off shore conference. It was kind of amusing because the show was a huge show and we were a small company and we had no money. We would load up my Pontiac station wagon and we would drive to Houston. It took a long time for people to take us seriously. But they did and I am proud to say, side scan sonar is very commonly used in the oil industry to site oil rigs, to do cultural resource surveys, to look at pipelines and to look at conditions of pipelines.More recently in the BP blow out a lot of side scan was used to survey the area to see what was going on at the bottom. It is a tool used often in the offshore industry, but it was not when I started out. MTR: You were in the field with Dr. Robert Ballard last year. What was that like? MK: Yes, my friends and family kid me because I am sup- posed to be retired, but I am busy all the time. I was very fortunate last year to be invited on board the E/V Nautilus. I knew Bob back in the day before he was a famous star. We used to meet at Woods Hole. He was a young geologist. We would talk about our dreams and things that would happen in the ocean. He of course went on to find the Titanic, but he has had tremendous success in getting students and a lot of people involved in the ocean. His crew tow side-scan sonar and have Argus and Hercules for ROV operations. I had the chance to go out with them last year and I was just in heaven for a number of reasons. The people on board are just amazing. Bob has the uncanny ability to find talent and encourage talent. So on board we had ROV people, navigators, biologists, edu- cators, geologists, and archeologists. Often in the world of science people don?t collaborate. Bob puts people togeth- er and there is a synergy. He gets people working togeth- er. I loved every minute of it. MTR: What are your plans to retire? MK: I don?t have any. Every day brings something new. Exploration goes on. Klein with side scan sonar in Boston Harbor. MTR#9 (18-33):MTR Layouts 11/28/2011 9:53 AM Page 32