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below, taking up less deck space and a roomy lab for sci- entists to set up experiments. The RV Argo Maine is the principal vessel used by the University of Maine to service the 10 buoys twice a year and to provide emergency repairs in cases of sensor failure, loss of telemetry, or when the buoys go out of service in case of collision or severing of the moorings.

In the case of "E" there is an array of underwater sensors attached below the buoy to measure water temperature at 1, 2, 20 and 50 m; chlorophyll concentration at 3 and 18 meters; current speed and direction at four meter intervals from 2-98 meters; Light sensors at 0, 3 and 18 meters; water density/salinity at 1,20 and 50 meters; as well as wave height and wave period, wind speed and direction, percent clear sky.

The Gulf of Maine, GOM, not to be confused with the

Gulf of Mexico, is the body of water located from Cape

Anne, Massachusetts to the southern tip of Nova Scotia.

This body of water is home to over 52 species of com- mercially harvested fish. Scientists are utilizing some of the GoMOOS data to figure out what the affect of over fishing, natural migration and water and climate condi- tions may have on these fish stocks. There have been cor- relations made between the changes in the surface water temperature and currents and the transport of lobster lar- vae and ultimately on the lobster landings along the coast of Maine. University of Maine Professor, Dr. Neal

Pettigrew was the champion, if you will of the real-time

GoMOOS buoy array system. The buoys are designed, assembled, and maintained by the technicians and engi- neers in his research group in Orono. Dr. Pettigrew's research focuses on the circulation of the gulf, and the impact of that circulation on transport of red tide, larvae, nutrients, and pollutants. Specifically he has been track- 30 MTR January 2006

Neal Pettigrew and crew service all GoMOOS buoys in the operations facility at UMaine in Orono.

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