Ellsworth American Article Cites Pettigrew’s Ocean Buoy Research

Research by Neal Pettigrew, an oceanography professor at the University of Maine, was cited in an Ellsworth American article about Penobscot Bay pilot David Gelinas briefing members of Congress about oceanographic buoys. Gelinas urged Congress to maintain funding for the oceanographic and weather buoys he and his colleagues rely on to help them safely bring cargo vessels and cruise ships in and out of port, according to the article. Gelinas specifically spoke about the importance of the New England Regional Association of Coastal Ocean Observing System (NERACOOS) buoys located in the Gulf of Maine. The origins of the system can be traced to Pettigrew’s efforts to establish a network of weather and oceanographic buoys that would collect environmental data in the Gulf, the article states. While the system was under development, Pettigrew asked the Penobscot Bay pilots if they would be interested in getting real-time information about weather conditions offshore. “We immediately recognized how valuable it would be to have that data,” Gelinas said.