Buoys along Olympic coast help scientists study ocean

NEAH BAY, Wash. (AP) — Scientists are using underwater monitors to study water temperatures at various depths along Washington's Olympic Coast.

The Peninsula Daily News says 10 buoys deployed by scientists with the Olympic Coast Marine Sanctuary will help them understand whether water rising from colder depths to the surface bring enough nutrients to help salmon and other creatures.

The research vessel Tatoosh dropped the instrument buoys last month at locations from Makah Bay to Cape Elizabeth north of the Quinault Reservation.

The buoys carry instruments that measure water temperature, currents and concentrations of tiny organisms called plankton. It also measures the water's salinity, clarity and acidity.

The buoys have been deployed since 2000. Scientists from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration visit the monitors each month to download data before retrieving them in winter.