Skip to content

Post 7: Spring Drifter Deployment

Drifters for the spring deployment are prepped and ready in the lab.
Drifters for the spring deployment are prepped and ready in the lab.

We released our third set of drifters into Cape Cod Bay on Monday (5/11/2026). Thank you to the crew of the RV Tioga for deploying the drifters for us!

Recap

First, a quick recap on the drifters from our last deployments! We still have two drifters at sea transmitting their location. From the fall deployment, the drifter built by Maddie is in the middle of the Atlantic ocean and heading east towards Europe. From the winter deployment, the drifter built by Kyra is now off the coast of Newfoundland. If this drifter continues on its path, it will potentially wash ashore within the Bay of Fundy, a really interesting region where the water level varies by about 16 meters depending on the tides!

Drifters

For this week's spring deployment, we launched the Sofia, Ella/Viv, and Gahelle drifters. Their number corresponds to the colored star in the study area map.  For the Ella/Viv and Sofia drifters, this was their second trip around the Bay. Both had already been deployed and recovered once, in the winter and fall, respectively.

Drifter #1 "Sofia" prepped for re-deployment.
Drifter #1 "Sofia" prepped for re-deployment.
Drifter #2 "Ella/Viv" prepped for re-deployment.
Drifter #2 "Ella/Viv" prepped for re-deployment.
Drifter #3 "Gahelle" prepped for deployment.
Drifter #3 "Gahelle" prepped for deployment.

Preparing for Deployment

For this deployment, we chose to release the three drifters at the same locations selected for the winter deployment. See our second and fifth blog posts for more information about how these locations were chosen.

Deployment_locations_feb

Since we didn’t alter the release locations, this time around most of the pre-deployment work consisted of gathering and repairing the drifters. Because of where they were recovered and by whom, the drifters were spread out across Cape Cod, and I even had one of the drifters in my apartment in Cambridge, Mass. I had to carry the drifter on my mile long commute through the streets of Cambridge so that a co-worker could drive it to Woods Hole. After following me for a few blocks, someone was even curious enough to stop and ask about the drifter project.

Margaret Gregory walking with a drifter in Cambridge, MA.
Margaret Gregory walking with a drifter in Cambridge, MA.
Disassembled drifters being repaired. Credit: Grace Simpkins
Disassembled drifters being repaired. Credit: Grace Simpkins
O-STEAM drifters ready for third deployment May 2026
Grace and the repaired drifters ready for deployment. Credit: Grace Simpkins

Once all of the drifters were back at WHOI, it was time to repair their bent crossbars and broken pieces. A huge thanks to Jim Manning and Grace Simpkins for organizing this effort! And an additional thank you to Grace for spending a weekend repairing and reassembling the drifters!!

Deployment

I'm so excited that our third deployment is underway! From previous studies of Cape Cod Bay, we know that the circulation experiences seasonal changes between winter/fall and spring/summer. Due to these changes, we expect that a greater number of drifters will exit the bay this deployment. Will we see distinct differences between the drifter tracks from this release as compared to our previous two? Will all the drifters exit the Bay?

If you want to track the drifters with me, you can go to https://studentdrifters.org/tracks/drift_osteam_2026_2.html where their positions are updated every few hours.

Previous blog post  |  Blog Homepage | Next blog post

Posted in Drifter blog, General Info