Texas scientists recover important buoy after a week lost at sea
A wayward buoy crucial to marine research in the Gulf of Mexico near Texas has finally made its way home, days after Hurricane Francine pushed it far out to sea. Staff at Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary , located about 100 miles from Galveston, confirmed the bright yellow spotter buoy, lovingly nicknamed Bob, was recovered just southeast of West Flower Garden at 11:24 p.m. on Wednesday. The basketball-sized buoy collects data to help the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) assess current offshore weather, sea state, and water conditions.
Sanctuary staff have been tracking Bob's movements using its GPS beacon ever since it broke free of its mooring and wandered off on Sept. 11 due to high waves from a still-developing Francine. It wasn't until Wednesday that staff installing mooring buoys at Stetson Bank realized Bob was heading back toward his starting point. They decided to make a nighttime trip to find the elusive buoy.
"Lucky for us, Bob has a flashing light on top that is quite visible at night," Kelly Drinnen, education and outreach specialist at the sanctuary, told Chron. "When we arrived in the vicinity of Bob's last known location we started scanning the seas around us and spotted the blinking light within 5-10 minutes. Within another 20 minutes, we had Bob on board. The entire Bob Squad cheered!"
Bob was covered in algae and gooseneck barnacles after floating the ocean for so long. The buoy, which had already been cleaned a few times since being placed in the sanctuary in June 2023, will be cleaned once again before being re-deployed. Bob will also be undergoing some much-needed repairs. His tether and the electrical connections to the data collection instruments he supported were broken.
"The real challenge may be getting out to the sanctuary to reinstall the buoy, since weather and sea states are generally less cooperative as we head toward the winter months," Drinnen said. The sanctuary will be providing updates on Bob's recovery progress on social media .
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