Deployment of the floats is easy and very quick (under 5 minutes) if the ship will stop. A rope is threaded through a hole in the polycarbonate disk and the float is gently lowered into the water as shown in the image below. The rope is then retrieved leaving the float to float freely.
We deployed 21 floats in this manner from the R/V Knorr during a summer 1997 cruise through the Sargasso Sea.