The float was launched in a triad with NPS#39 and NPS#46 , and was also associated with NPS#42 . The triad was launched off Monterey Bay (Figure 1) in a triangular pattern with one point above the 500-m isobarh and two others at the offshore side of a nearly equilateral triangle with about 11 km on a side.
Immediately after launch the float moved offshore (Figure 2) and on August 27, 1996 was entrained by an anticyclonic eddy (Figure 4) with diameter of 200 km and period of 60 days
Number of loops 3 Diameter, km 203.4 Duration, days 191 Period, days 64 Swirl velocity, cm/s 11.6 Translation velocity, cm/s 0.9 Direction, degrees 255 Rossby number 0.01
On April 26, 1997 the float was rejected from the eddy and entrained in the California Undercurrent (Figure 2). The float moved along the coast till October, 1997 when it turned westward and surfaced about a month later.
The float was ballasted for 275 dbar but was steady sinking from 590 to 1025 dbar and deeper (Figure 3). It bailed out early after sinking.