When the Ice Goes Away, Buoys Come Out to Play – A Blue Heron Photo Story

On Tuesday, April 21, the Large Lakes Observatory’s research vessel – the Blue Heron – embarked on a mission to deploy buoys in Lake Superior. The data collected through these buoys helps scientists, researchers and agencies get a clearer picture of what goes on in the lake, and make accurate weather predictions.

For this expedition, the Blue Heron deployed four buoys. Two larger ones were left near McQuade to collect a variety of data, including wind speed and direction, wave height, temperature, and humidity.

A crane attachment on the deck of the boat is used to lift the buoys safely into the water.

After being dropped into the water, the buoys remain attached to the vessel. This allows them to be dragged to a more precise location before dropping their anchors. Old railroad wheels were used to anchor the larger buoys, while buckets of concrete were used for the smaller buoys.

A smaller buoy was left just off Park Point to measure the wind. A fourth buoy – owned by Lake Superior National Estuarine Research Reserve (LSNERR) was deployed to collect data on water quality. 

During the expedition, the Blue Heron was able to retrieve a winter mooring. This instrument is left underwater to collect data from October until the ice melts in the spring. When the time comes to collect the mooring, the boat returns to its coordinates and crew members use acoustic command signals as a way of remotely triggering the release of the instrument from its submarine hold. Once released, the mooring pops up to the surface, ready to be collected. 

Unlike the buoys that are able to send their data to the lab in real time, the winter mooring must be physically brought back and hooked up to computers in order to see its data.

The Large Lakes Observatory shares this data with many federal agencies, including the National Data Buoy Center and the Great Lakes Observing System. The data are publicly accessible on their websites. The LLO also provides public access to more of the data on its own website. 

“The idea is that we want the public to be able to use this data,” explained Jay Austin, Professor of Physics and Astronomy at UMD, “we want people to be interested in what we do.”