April Showers

We have been pretty busy here in the ORCA lab.  The month started out with a couple trips to the Hoodsport buoy.  Previously we had observed a damaged solar panel.  Water had made its way into the junction box where the electrical leads are attached.  When we discovered this we took many of the major components of the buoy home with us to avoid any damage while the buoy was down. 

Working in the rain.

After two very long days on the water we were able to get all components of the buoy installed and working.  Currently Hoodsport is profiling two times a day.  As the days get longer and the sun shines brighter we should be able to increase the profiling frequency. 

We are also collecting our weather stations from the buoys to send to the manufacturer for repair/re-calibration. 

Colin retrieving a weather station.

Despite the rainy day on the water the evening and sunset were very pleasant.

The next buoy we visited was the Carr Inlet buoy.  It was another rainy day.  On the upside the winds were very calm.  We were conducting a package swap, water sampling and some general maintenance. 

Old instrument package.

New instrument package.

The buoy was in good shape overall.  No surprises, which is a surprise in itself.  We completed our goals for the day and brought back the old instrument package for some much needed cleaning.

Finally this month Colin and his dive partner Dave were able to dive on the Twanoh and  Hoodsport buoys.  The goal was to inspect the anchor lines for evidence of weak spots.  Some signs of wear were spotted but nothing alarming.

Anchor chain.

Dave heading up the anchor chain.

 

Despite the rainy weather we were able to get some good work done this month.  On another note, after leaving the Carr Inlet buoy we found some litter in the water and did a good deed and picked it up.  I like to give people the benefit of the doubt, I assume this wasn't thrown in the water purposefully.  Here is what we found...

Birthday balloons!