By Lorraine Bisson   Fall 2006

An Overview:
While I was a student at Southern Maine Community College (SMCC), we participated in a project for the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute (WHOI) in building drifters.  These drifters were designed to float on the ocean surface and flow with the currents.  Some of these drifters contained GPS devices that would relay a signal to overhead satellites of its coordinates. For my maps I took the data downloaded from the GPS devices and created maps displaying the tracts the drifters made and in turn mapping the currents of the Gulf of Maine.

Map Summary 1:
The Citizen Scientist Initiative: Marine Invasive Species Monitoring Organization (CSI MISMO) is a project that has been developed to predict the spread of two non-native crab species.  This is made possible by the collection of data from a number of organizations and individuals.  The European Green Crab and the Asian Shore Crab travel in the currents during the larval stages of their life cycle.  Drifters are used to map currents and the possible deposition of crabs from the water column. This map shows the possible routes larval crabs may take via ocean currents to settlement locations.

Double-Click Image to Open PDF map. (pdf - 791k)

Map Summary 2:
Millions of microscopic phytoplankton cells can live in a single drop of seawater.  Most are harmless but some such as Alexandrium fundyense are toxic. Scientist at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute have been studying and collecting data on these harmful algal blooms, commonly known as red tide, for years. Toxins produced by A. fundyense accumulate in filter-feeding shellfish such as clams, mussels, and oysters. If eaten in sufficient quantities, these contaminated shellfish can result in illness or even death from a poisoning sydrom called, Paralytic Shellfish Poisoning (PSP).  Spring of 2005 was the worst bloom since 1972.  Using drifters to map currents is just one of the ways scientists are trying to protect the public from PSP by shutting down the shellfish beds before a problem develops.

Double-Click Image to Open PDF map. (pdf - 420k)

GIS Lab Contact:
Gordon Longsworth, glongsworth@coa.edu, 207-288-2944, extension 277