Blog Notre Océan

First drifter buoy deployment in the Pacific

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The British yacht Lovesail, sailing in the Pacific Odyssey, has achieved two firsts today: the first boat to deploy a drifter buoy as part of the Pacific Odyssey/Blue Planet Odyssey, and the first Odyssey yacht to deploy in the Pacific.

Captain Mark Buxton writes, Drifter buoy ID #127249 deployed at 1630 UTC Sunday, 22 Feb 2015 at 01:07.182N 085:27.538W. Deployed from stern of yacht travelling at 3 knots.

Lovesail

Lovesail crew – Michael, Elizabeth, Mark, Craig and Lucy

The fleet have nine drifter buoys in total, two due to be deployed en route to the Galapagos and the remainder afterwards, when bound for the Marquesas. The buoys were supplied by NOAA, which being located in Miami, Florida, gave scientist Shaun Nolk, who manages the drifter buoy program, a great opportunity to bring the buoys directly to the boats in Key West before their departure.

The buoys form part of the Global Drifter Array program which supplies crucial climate data to scientists about the remotest parts of the ocean. For more information on the drifter buoys and their importance, visit our Ocean pages.

 

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