Post 5: Winter launch
We released our second set of drifters into Cape Cod Bay on Tuesday (2/10/2026). Thank you to the crew of the RV Tioga for deploying the drifters for us!
But first, a quick re-cap! Two drifters from the fall deployment escaped Cape Cod Bay – Maddie and Athvika. The Athvika drifter stopped transmitting pings in mid-December with its last-known location about 15 to 20 nautical miles east of Nantucket Island in the open Atlantic Ocean. It would be exciting if the drifter eventually came ashore somewhere and fun to learn where it was found. The fourth drifter – built by Maddie – is still sending pings and is currently out over the New England Sea Mounts in the open Atlantic, about 375–385 nautical miles from Woods Hole!
Drifters
For our winter deployment we launched the Kyra, Ella/Viv, and Annie/Autumn drifters. Their number corresponds to the colored marker in the site map below.
Selecting Our Release Sites
For this second deployment, we decided to release only three drifters into Cape Cod Bay. Since two of the drifters from the October 2025 release have yet to be recovered, we are left with six drifters. In order to ensure this release in winter and another in spring, we decided to play it safe by decreasing the number of drifters deployed at a time.
The initial positions for this release are a subset of the four used in October, dropping the southernmost deployment site. See our second blog post for more information on how we chose the original four initial release locations. We decided to omit the southernmost waypoint as it is relatively close to the waypoint above it, thus we reduce the resolution around PNPS while retaining our coverage of the western coast of Cape Cod Bay.
Preparing for Deployment
This time around, preparing the drifters to go onto the boat was quite an adventure in the cold! Huge thanks to Grace Simpkins for helping me despite the sub-15 degrees (F) temperatures and 20 mph winds. Before deployment, we tested the GPS transmitters on each drifter by activating each transmitter, putting the drifters outside in the sun (the transmitters are solar powered!), and waiting until their positions were relayed to my laptop. We then loaded the drifters onto Grace’s truck and tied them down so they wouldn’t blow away on our 1.5 mile drive to the WHOI dock. Once at the dock, we loaded the drifters onto the Tioga and, with another snowstorm and high winds forecasted before the actual deployment day, squeezed two drifters below deck and tied the other down tightly to the deck. It’s always an adventure adjusting to the weather conditions!
Deployment
Now that our second drifter deployment is underway, I am excited to see where the drifters end up and how they get there! Will any drifters exit the bay this time? What paths will the drifters that remain in the bay take?
If you want to track the drifters with me, you can go to https://studentdrifters.org/tracks/drift_osteam_2026_1.html where their positions are updated every few hours.
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