As we head into the fall, there’s still lots of on-the-water time left to enjoy on the Bay and its tributaries as the air and water cool. For the rest of the fall season, the CBIBS team intends to run seven buoys as currently deployed (Annapolis, Gooses Reef, Potomac, Stingray Point, Jamestown, York Spit, and First Landing).
Note that the team continues to explore solutions to glitches in data transmission from the Gooses Reef and Stingray Point buoys.
Parts and resources are not available to deploy buoys at the Patapsco, Susquehanna, and Upper Potomac locations where CBIBS buoys have been positioned in former years.
In early December, the Annapolis buoy—most vulnerable to damage from water freezing both above and below the waterline—will be pulled. The buoy team is also considering pulling Gooses Reef and Jamestown to keep them safe from icing.
Over the winter, NCBO plans to reevaluate future plans for CBIBS buoys, including how many buoys are deployed, buoy locations, and the types of information each buoy collects.