Work to replace aging CBIBS buoys with new, smaller buoys is progressing—and evolving. As Chesapeake Bay boaters and anglers enjoy the busy summer boating season, the CBIBS team provides this update on the status and plans for buoys:
- Annapolis, Potomac, and Jamestown locations (including bottom lander at Gooses Reef) are operational with new buoys.
- Stingray Point and Gooses Reef locations have new buoys in place, but are experiencing issues and only reporting intermittently. The Stingray Point buoy will need to be pulled so that its batteries can be replaced. The Gooses Reef buoy's issues can likely be repaired without pulling the buoy. The CBIBS team is working on plans to implement these fixes; timeline is still to be determined.
- York Spit and First Landing currently are operational with old buoys; the team is working to acquire needed electronics to enable swapping old for new buoys.
- Patapsco currently has no buoy; it is under construction, and the anticipated launch date is still to be determined. This buoy supports commercial shipping as ships transit into Baltimore.
- It does not appear we will deploy buoys at the Upper Potomac or Susquehanna locations in 2019. The “CB1.1 Susquehanna River” data from Maryland Department of Natural Resources’ Eyes on the Bay network provides data that can be helpful for anglers, including water temperature and salinity. For Upper Potomac, the “TF2.1 Off Piscataway” Eyes on the Bay location is a few miles downstream of the Upper Potomac buoy location, and another NOAA station that includes water and meteorological information is upstream a few miles at Washington, D.C.
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The NOAA CBIBS team prepares the new Potomac buoy to be deployed off Point Lookout in May 2019.