GoMOOS targets sea conditions

GoMOOS! GoMOOS! Sounds like a chant from your hometown football team boosters, doesn’t it? (Every team has someone you’d called Moose – well, maybe not to his face.)

This MOOS, however, is one you may feel free to call anytime. It’s short for the Gulf of Maine Ocean Observing System and when you call (or access its Web site) you’ll get up-to-the-hour reports on conditions at sea from buoys at 10 locations in the Gulf of Maine. They’ve been on line now about two years.

I recommend you check out the GoMOOS Web site (www.gomoos.org) and get familiar with what’s on tap before you make the call. The Web site has a list of the 10 buoys, their location and their National Oceanographic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) station identifier number.

For example, the one on Western Penobscot Bay, just off the Mussle Ridge Islands, is 44033, and you need that number to enter into the phone connection to get information from that buoy. Each of the 10 buoys has its own number.

The Web site gives you access to more information – wind speed, wind gusts, wind direction, wave height, dominant wave period, air temperature, visibility, current speed, current direction, water temperature at 1, 2 and 20 meters, salinity at 1 and 20 meters, dissolved oxygen at 20 meters and density at 1 and 20 meters. And the information is archived so you can pick any time span you like back two years.

Some of the information may seem a little too detailed for the average boater, but scientists are happy to have the detail. I talked with Tom Shyka, a program specialist with GoMOOS, who said scientists are using the data and are working with the Department of Marine Resources to correlate fishery data. For example, shrimp and lobster catches can be cross-referenced with data on water temperature, salinity, currents and the like. Normal traffic on the Web site was about 3,400 page views per day this past July, Shyka said.

The data will help scientists studying global warming as well by providing reliable information on average conditions in the area of each buoy, thus helping them to compare year-to-year numbers. To show how data could be used, a GoMOOS brochure illustrates a plot of chlorophyll concentrations over time from one buoy showing a phytoplankton bloom between the end of August and the middle of October. Collected data on currents could be used to predict oil spill trajectories. The possibilities for scientists are endless.

For the rest of us, just having a current weather condition report would be helpful. If you were headed out to sail for the day, wouldn’t it be nice to know, as of an hour ago, what the conditions were?

Wednesday, for example, I called the GoMOOS number (228-688-1948) shortly after 2 p.m. and when prompted entered the Western Penobscot Bay buoy number (44033). I got information (as of 1 p.m.) from a computer generated voice that told me the wind was southerly (170 degrees) at 5.8 knots with wind gusts of 7.8 knots. Wave height was .78 feet. The air temperature was 56.8 degrees and the water temperature was 57.4 degrees. I was prompted to enter another number and got the National Weather Service marine forecast for the next several days.

By having current conditions and a forecast in hand one would be better armed to make a decision on whether to head out for the day. The same could be said for fishermen. Information available on the Web site can help them make that decision, and better yet, tell then where the conditions would be most favorable.

At he home page on the GoMOOS site you’ll find a host of choices to check out – hourly buoy data, ocean conditions, weather forecasts (six sources), biological data, circulation forecasts, satellite imagery, wave forecasts and more. A word of caution: when you get on this Web site, plan on spending some quality time here because there’s a wealth of information.

I must have spent an hour or two (hey, I was stuck in the office) just looking at all the information available. If you were waiting until late in the season to take a dip, by the way, forget it. After checking out day-to-day water temperature reports I confirmed what I’ve felt all summer – the ocean has still not warmed to more than 57 degrees (the temperature Wednesday at 3 p.m. off Mussel Ridge was 56.8 degrees).

Josie Quintrel, director of policy and planning for GoMOOS, told me the system has been a hit since its installation two years ago. We’ve had historical weather data for years, she reminded me, but nothing for the ocean around us. Now, with the beginning of a data base, scientists will be better able to understand such things as algae blooms (red tide) that affect shellfish, and where they might pop up.

She said response to GoMOOS has been unbelievable, from fishermen to recreational boaters to aquaculturalists who closely watch water temperatures to guard against super chilling fish stocks. Penobscot Bay pilots use it to help decide where the ocean conditions will be most favorable to meet incoming ships. Transferring a pilot from a smaller boat to a ship in rough seas is risky business. It’s much better to pick a calmer location, and the buoys’ wave height reports come in handy. Pilot Jeff Cockburn of Penobscot Bar and River Pilots Association is quoted in the GoMOOS brochure as having said of the system: “Red sky at morning, sailors take warning doesn’t cut it any more. We need quality, timely data to ensure the safety of our operations.”

The Web site mentions another use for wave reports and forecasts: “Every week, heating oil is shipped from St. John, New Brunswick, to ports around the Gulf in barges pulled by tugs. These tugs are efficient transportation but are vulnerable to large waves. Information on the observed wave heights combined with model forecasts provide trip planners with a powerful tool to make critical decisions.”

Other users, Quintel said, include teachers and researchers.

If you’re interested in an up-to-date look at sea conditions check out GoMOOS. It makes a great supplement to your weather radio.

Jeff Strout can be reached at 990-8202 or by e-mail at jstrout@bangordailynews.net.