UMaine Researchers Raft Down Penobscot River to Study Changes, BDN Reports
The Bangor Daily News covered a Penobscot River rafting trip by University of Maine researchers and students who are noting changes in the waterway by using sonar technology to study the riverbed. “Primarily, we’re interested in the structure of the bottom of the Penobscot River and the changes to that bottom as a result of everything that’s gone on, including human interventions, floods, dam removals and all the other things that have been a part of the history of the river in the last 200 years,” said Sean Smith, an assistant professor at UMaine’s School of Earth and Climate Sciences. He added rivers can’t be managed effectively unless people know how they work and respond to different influences. Gayle Zydlewski, an associate professor at UMaine’s School of Marine Science who studies sturgeon, was also part of the expedition. “Sturgeon would get as far as the Milford Dam, and when the dams went in, they were blocked,” Zydlewski said, adding she wants to know if the fish will use the area and if their population will change now that the dam has been removed.