NOAA to begin nautical survey project of bays

The last time nautical survey work was done for parts of Cobscook and Passamaquoddy bays was between 1834 and 1899. That is about to change due to the efforts of Senators Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe. On April 2010 the senators asked the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to conduct a "full bottom survey of the bay as soon as possible." Captain Robert Peacock of Eastport led the local effort to involve the senators in the need for new nautical surveys.

The NOAA crew is expected to start survey work in the bays this week, work through the summer and then continue with the operation into the fall and possibly in 2011 if the weather interferes with mapping procedures.

Commander Lawrence Krepp, chief of the NOAA Navigation Response Team, explains that usually new nautical surveys are prioritized according to commercial tonnage and "the highest risk of environmental or economic disaster if chart data is not up to date." Limited resources are always an issue. But he says, "The loss of life brought us here." Krepp says that while the area doesn't have a "gigantic commercial factor, the human aspect C that was the rationale" for the priority status of surveying the area.

The bays' communities have been hard hit over the past few years with the loss of lives in the fishing industry. In March 2009 Logan Preston and Loren Lank were lost when the vessel All American sank while dragging in Cobscook Bay. On October 20, 2009, Daryl Cline, Joseph Jones and Norman Johnson and the vessel Bottom Basher were lost while dragging in Cobscook Bay. Along with the Bottom Basher and the All American, other scallop or urchin draggers that have sunk in or near Cobscook Bay, possibly after their drags caught on bottom, include the Surf Tide off West Quoddy Head in 1990, with the loss of one life; the Jodie Lynn off Denbow Point in 1994; the Four Sisters off Eastport in 1996; the Scrappy-Doo near Goose Island in Cobscook Bay in 1999; and the Matthew and Mark near Falls Island in 2002. In addition, other vessels have had close calls or sunk for other reasons in this area.

The NOAA survey has been sectioned into six priority areas with the top three priorities being Cobscook Bay, Falls Island, Dennys Bay and Whiting Bay and eastern Cobscook Bay and Friar Roads. The second three priorities are Western Passage, Passamaquoddy Bay and St. Croix River and Quoddy Narrows and Lubec Narrows. Krepp notes that the crew "will take about a month for each section."

Part of NOAA's survey work will be to map obstructions that would be considered a high danger to navigation. A list of "dangers to navigation" notice, Krepp says, will be given to the U.S. Coast Guard. In the event of any kind of salvage operation to raise and remove a dangerous obstruction, NOAA "can use proof of salvage documentation to remove [the mapped obstruction] from the chart. We'll see what happens. There may be some historic data on that map that may not be there anymore. The team will document that."

The survey will not measure tidal flow or current speed. The equipment will be able to determine some "light bottom sampling" such as rock, mud and sand, but "the gear is not set up for this," says Krepp.

Working with the tidal currents will be a challenge for the crew. Krepp and two additional NOAA team members met on June 8 with a number of people in different marine-related fields to learn about the bays' tidal challenges, to coordinate support and to find out general information about activities in the bay.

The two field crew members are Nick Forfinski, physical scientist, hydrographer and team leader for NRT5 (navigation response team), and Matt Andring, survey technician. The crew will be using a 28' Sea Ark vessel, a single beam echo sounder, side-scan sonar and multibeam sonar. NOAA will provide periodic progress updates to local officials.

Krepp notes that NOAA will be scheduling an open house later in the summer when community members will be invited to meet the crew, see the vessel and its equipment and learn about NOAA's work in the bay and beyond.