Notice to mariners! Drift buoy study taking place in Port Valdez. The study objective is to measure flow patterns at various depths within the Port. The study is funded by Prince William Sound Regional Citizens’ Advisory Council in collaboration with the Prince William Sound Science Center.

The drifter buoys will be released on June 22^nd and retrieved on July 1^st. Please do not pick up the buoys! They are being monitored via GPS and need to be allowed to drift where the current takes them. Buoys that run aground, appear to be in the path of tanker traffic, or that drift inside the exclusion zone around the terminal will be retrieved and re-released. The drift buoys will be labeled PWSSC.

The buoys will have drogues attached that trail beneath them in the water, to depths of anywhere from one meter to 40 meters. Please be cautious when navigating around these drifter buoys.

For more information on this drift study, visit www.pwsrcac.org or contact Jeremy Robida at jeremy.robida@pwsrcac.org. If you have a buoy-related emergency, call 834-5040 or 834-5000.