The third kind of deployment is an hourly release. We release the drifters one
per hour at a particular point.
The map shown here is an example of hourly releases. We started letting one
drifter go every hour from under the International Bridge in Lubec. The first
drifter in blue hung out in that eddy between Rodgers and Treat Island. The
second drifter in Red took off for Cobscook Bay. The third drifter in green
went into Johnson Bay and we picked it up behind Rodgers Island. The last drifter
in brown went in the total opposite direction. It ended up on the beach below
the Canadian Customs station on Campobello. I should note that wind was a factor
on this day. We normally end a run when the wind speed approaches 15 knots.
On this day we ended the run about two hours early because the wind was blowing
from the southwest at 15-20 knots. I had a wild ride with Frank Ayers trying
to get the red drifter into the boat off Birch Point.
This data has been of interest to several different groups beyond those interested
in spill planning. This past summer, the group studying the possibility of a
tidal power demonstration project in the Cobscook region used our drifter data
as they considered various sites. We also share our data with scientists at
the St. Andrews Biological Station who are doing similar field trials in Passamaquoddy
Bay.
To this point we have been focused on doing the field work and looking at the
direction and pathway of travel of the drifters. We haven’t looked at velocity
of the drifters along the way. We are working with the scientists at St. Andrews
on developing velocity data. So while we will still continue to do the field
work in the future, we also want to start trying to analyze the data we’ve already
collected in a more in-depth fashion.
As you look at these maps, if you see things that are familiar or are different
from your experience, please let us know. We’d like to hear what you think about
this project and how it fits into what you know about the currents in Cobscook
Bay.