WHOI has Deployed New Red Tide Sensors with Help from NERACOOS

NERACOOS Helps to Fund Deployment
of Red Tide Sensors off the New England Coast

A set of buoys with high-tech sensors for detecting harmful algal bloom (HAB) organisms (commonly called red tide) have recently been stationed along the coast of New England. These buoys, developed and deployed by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), carry novel robotic instruments that can detect and measure red tide causing organisms. These buoys will provide near real-time data creating a more complete picture of red tide events and provide an early warning for coastal managers. The information will also be combined with ocean measurements from NERACOOS buoys to help improve predictive models of red tides in the Gulf of Maine. Click here to read about the modest bloom that's been forecasted for the Gulf of Maine this season.

The three buoys have been deployed along the coast (see map) for 45 days. A fourth buoy may be deployed at another location or used to extend the deployment of an existing buoy.

The deployment of these buoys is funded in part by an award to NERACOOS from the U.S. Integrated Ocean Observing System (IOOS) Marine Sensor Innovation Program and is aimed at testing and improving new marine sensors. The instruments attached to the buoys are known as Environmental Sample Processors or ESPs and were developed by the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute.