Each winter, to keep the most vulnerable buoys safe from potential ice damage, the CBIBS team works with partners to pull the Susquehanna, Patapsco, Annapolis, and Upper Potomac buoys. Sensors can be damaged by ice, and ice floes can move buoys significant distances.
The Upper Potomac buoy was pulled on November 30.
In preparation for their pulls, Susquehanna, Patapsco and Annapolis will have their sensors have sensors removed the week of December 4. Patapsco and Annapolis will be pulled the week of December 11 with support from the U.S. Coast Guard; date for Susquehanna is yet to be set.
Check for updates via the CBIBS Facebook page.
Over the winter, the CBIBS team will assemble new buoys for these locations. These four buoys have been used for nearly a decade and they are starting to show their age. The new buoys, to be deployed in the same locations in spring 2018, will be slightly smaller and easier for the CBIBS team to work on. They will track all the same parameters the current buoys do.