TREPA supports “Drifter” project

Little is known about the action of surface currents in the Gulf of Maine. Mostly, an object has been dropped at one location and picked up at another but the path of the item is not known. Students teams with the Gulf of Maine Institute, working at their summer workshop at Acadia University this summer hope to change that. Our local Nova Scotia teams will be building “ocean drifters” as a part of a Gulf wide project.

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The concept is very simple. The students build drifters equipped with a transmitter. The drifters our groups build will be launched off of Brier Island and Cape Sable. They will float just beneath the surface and the transmitter will send locational information to receivers at the National Oceanic and Aeronautics Administration (NOAA) in the U.S. The students be able to follow the path of their drifter and others launched in the project on their computers.

With  many of these simple devices floating around the Gulf, scientists hope to gain more information on the role of surface currents in Gulf habitats and the distribution of life forms.

TREPA will be helping to sponsor the Nova Scotia drifters with a grant contribution.

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