Post 6: February Drifter Retrieval
What an interesting two weeks of drifter tracking! Released into the Bay on Feb. 10, the drifters experienced a nor’easter blizzard on Feb. 22 and 23, which brought wind gusts upward of 60 miles per hour. As of February 27 two drifters (Ella and Viv as well as Annie and Autumn) have hit land, while the other (Kyra) remains in the water.
First Recovery: February 23
On February 23 around noon the drifter built by Ella and Viv (purple Drifter #3) washed up onshore near Sandwich, MA. After oscillating around the center of Cape Cod Bay for over a week, the drifter was swiftly pushed onshore when the nor'easter arrived. The next day, the drifter was found near the Sandwich Boardwalk by Sophie and Joe Kirby who kindly dug it out of the snow and moved it away from the shoreline. The storm knocked out the power for 90 percent of Cape Cod and dumped up to 20 inches of snow. While everyone on our team who lives on the Cape dug themselves out, the drifter remained on the beach until Grace Simpkins could rescue it on February 26. For three days the drifter sat on the beach, and many of the local beachcombers were curious about what it was and called it in. Huge thanks to everyone in the community for your interest and support!
Second Recovery: February 27
On February 27 around 9 a.m., the drifter built by Annie and Autumn (yellow Drifter #1) washed ashore on the Outer Cape near Truro, MA! The drifter landed in a relatively inaccessible location, with the nearest public beach access point around two miles away. Luckily, the drifter was found and recovered the next day by two people who were staying in a nearby dune shack. They were kind enough to drive the drifter back to Falmouth which was greatly appreciated by our team!
Remaining Drifter
The remaining drifter built by Kyra (green Drifter #2) exited the bay on February 25 and is currently making its way down the Outer Cape. Keep checking the live map at https://studentdrifters.org/tracks/drift_osteam_2026_1.html over the next few weeks to see where it ends up going!
It will be interesting to compare ocean model data for February 2026 to the data collected from this set of drifters and see how well the predicted currents capture effects of the nor’easter. Data from February 2025 suggested a near zero probability of the drifters exiting the Bay; however, we expect the drifter pathways and final positions to be greatly influenced by the storm. For example, we anticipate that the high winds and associated changes to the currents are what swiftly pushed the purple drifter into the shoreline and the other two drifters away from Provincetown. We are currently working on quantifying these changes and investigating the agreement between the model and observations. Additionally, we are currently repairing the drifters so that they are ready for our next deployment planned for this May!
P.S. We received additional funding and were able to turn the GPS transmitters back on for the two drifters that exited the bay during the fall deployment. Unfortunately, the drifter built by Athvika has not transmitted its location again – maybe some day we’ll get a call from someone who found it on a beach somewhere! However, the drifter built by Maddie is still transmitting from the open ocean! It is currently 1,450 nautical miles (approx. 1,670 statute miles or 2,680 km) to the east in the North Atlantic Ocean. https://studentdrifters.org/tracks/drift_osteam_2025_1.html
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