Lake Superior climate monitoring, maritime safety buoys deployed for season

MARQUETTE, Mich. (WLUC) - Three climate monitoring and maritime safety buoys have been deployed for the season from the south shore of Lake Superior.

According to a press release, the Superior Watershed Partnership and Land Conservancy (SWP) staff deployed the buoys on Saturday, June 3 with boat support provided by the Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR).

The location of these buoys are near the shorelines of Marquette, Munising and Grand Marias.

The Marquette buoy is one half-mile northeast of Black Rocks of Presque Isle; the Munising buoy is five miles north of Miners Castle, Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore; the Grand Marais buoy is four miles north of the harbor.

In 2021, the SWP received $47,786.80 in grant funding through the Great Lakes Observing System (GLOS) to purchase the new, buoys and SWP continues to deploy, maintain, and retrieve them yearly.

Each of the three monitoring buoys collect important navigation and climate planning data including wave height, wind speed, water temperature and more.

The live data provided by these buoys is critical for commercial and recreational boaters as well as the National Weather Service, Environment Canada and NOAA.

In addition, the SWP uses buoy data for long-term climate adaptation planning with coastal communities in the Upper Peninsula. Data is transmitted and accessible via the GLOS Seagull website.

More information on the GLOS monitoring buoy program can be found here.