I42,
They will use as much cable as possible and when mowing the lawn, will have to make large turns. The towed array is rated with a static depth, so the dynamic load of the towed speed and turn is important.
Due to the time required, they will not raise and lower the array when turning.
The distance between the parallel tracks is a function of the overlap at depth.
There are also Bluefin 21's in use.
They may also be towing a magnetometer, or multiple beam sonar array to image the bottom. I am sure if Ocean Shield isnt, others are.