Syracuse.com - Lake Ontario research buoy had support line cut, drifts unharmed into Oswego Harbor

[HuntingNY-News]

"We just thought fisherman or any other recreational boaters should know what these things are next time they see one," said a U.S.Geological Survey official..

An unsuspecting Lake Ontario boater apparently cut the rope holding a pricey, floating research buoy to the bottom of the lake earlier this month.

The buoy, laden with sensory equipment, drifted into the Oswego Harbor area last week with its sensors unharmed, according to an official from the U.S. Geological Survey office in Oswego.

"It could possibly have been an angler who got his down rigger or planer board snagged on it and didn't know what it was," said said Brian Lantry, a fisheries biologist and station supervisor at the U.S. Geological Survey office. "We got a call this week from the Coast Guard that the buoy had been spotted at the opening of the harbor. We went out and sure enough it was ours. Fortunately, all the sensors were still attached."

Lantry said the rope attached to the buoy had "a clean cut," like it had been done with a knife about five feet below the surface. The buoy had originally been in 600 feet of water, about five miles off shore.

The buoy was one of five placed at varying depths from 15 to 600 feet in the lake, beginning just west of Oswego Harbor. They're a part of an international joint U.S./Canadian study done every five years.

The sensors on the buoys measure the light, temperature and the oxygen levels at various levels in the lake. Those parameters are being studied, Lantry explained, to determine the level of algae production in the lake, which then gives an indication of the level of zooplankton (tiny animals) that feed on the algae. Small fish in turn feed on the zooplankton.

"It helps us study the bottom of the food chain, which then helps give us an indication of the health of the overall fishery," he said.

Lantry said the buoy resembles a 10-foot long, white PVC pipe with a light on top and an orange diamond sticker on its side. It sticks about four to six feet out of the water. The line attached to the cinder blocks on the bottom of the lake are slack, enabling it to better stay in place during high winds and waves.

Depending on the number of sensor, the buoys cost anywhere from $5,000 to $10,000.

"We put it back in place this week," Lantry said. "We just thought fishermen or any other recreational boaters would like to know what these things are next time they see one. They're not marking any structure or rocks underneath, where there might be fish. It's just a research buoy."

View the full article on The Syracuse Outdoors Blog