Watch for the Buoys!

Watch for the Buoys!
as written for the Wayuga News Papers 2002 by Miranda Whitman

Bright orange buoys have been placed strategically throughout Little Sodus Bay and seven other small bodies of water bordering Lake Ontario. Cornell University, Syracuse University, and a variety of other sponsors are working in conjunction with a project called the Lake Ontario Biocomplexity Study. According to Todd Cowen, a professor at Cornell's School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, the main goal of this project is to determine the rate at which the bays exchange water with Lake Ontario and how that affects the ecosystem within the bays and the lake. As stated from the official website about this project, "the research will have major practical value for resolving technical questions about Great Lakes water level regulation." The bright orange buoys out in Little Sodus contain instruments to measure the water temperature and pressure. These are two key things that circulate the water in the bay as well as wind and tide. The seven other bays being studies include Blind Sodus, Sterling Pond, Juniper Pond, South Sandy, North Sandy, South Colwell and Floodwood. This study is being funded by a grant from the National Science Foundation. If you would like more information about this project please visit the website at http://ontario.cfe.cornell.edu