Buoy Se’lhaem captures ocean data from Salish Sea for dozens of researchers and institutions
Aug. 20, 2024 10:05 p.m.
Field engineers from the University of Washington Applied Physics Laboratory work on the old Se’lhaem buoy from Bellingham Bay on Monday, Aug. 19. The buoy collects data about the bay and was replaced with a new, fully functioning buoy after more than a year anchored to the sea floor. (Hailey Hoffman/Cascadia Daily News)
As the sky darkens, a small orange light blinks from the center of Bellingham Bay near Portage Island. It marks the location of the bright yellow buoy, Se’lhaem, as it pulls data from the surrounding environment: salinity, temperature, wind speed and more.
Liesl Danyluk, who graduated with a master’s degree in environmental science from Western Washington University, remembers using the data pulled from the buoy to study the Bellingham Bay extending from the foot of Sehome Hill.
Now, as a field engineer, Danyluk works with several others from the University of Washington Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) to maintain Se’lhaem and many others around the Pacific Northwest as part of Northwest Environmental Moorings and Northwest Association of Networked Ocean Observing Systems (NANOOS). That buoys’ data, updated online in real-time, is then used by dozens of researchers, education institutions, Tribes and others who observe the state of the Salish Sea.
“Physical ocean data is pretty simple, but it’s so important,” said John Rombold, the associate director of the Salish Sea Research Center (SSRC) at Northwest Indian College. Rombold and other researchers rely on the buoy’s data to understand the basics of the bay’s environment to use as a baseline for other studies, like of the longfish smelt or shellfish biotoxins.
In recent months, the buoy went offline, due to battery issues. APL engineers on Monday, Aug. 19, began the complicated process of replacing the buoy with support from NWIC and Western.
WWU student and SSRC intern Roberto Kannapell reaches to grab the old buoy as a cormorant flies off, scared by the SSRC’s research vessel. The buoy was first launched in 2016 near Portage Island and was named Se’lhaem by the Lummi Nation to honor an island that was once in the mouth of the Nooksack River. (Hailey Hoffman/Cascadia Daily News)Field engineer Jennie Mowatt checks her dry suit while preparing to dive 60 feet deep into the dark, murky Bellingham Bay to begin detaching the old buoy. (Hailey Hoffman/Cascadia Daily News)SSRC intern Roberto Kannapell, right, hands a line to Robert Daniels, center, and Jennie Mowatt to attach to the anchor’s chain. The new line maintained the crew’s connection to the anchor while they swapped the new buoy for the old. (Hailey Hoffman/Cascadia Daily News)After the divers resurfaced, field engineers Amy Larsen, left, and Liesl Danyluk arrived with the replacement buoy. Captain Nate Schwarck on WWU’s research vessel, Magister, towed the 1,100-pound buoy from Squalicum Harbor. (Hailey Hoffman/Cascadia Daily News)Robert Daniels, left, and Jennie Mowatt remove the light from the old buoy to place on the new. (Hailey Hoffman/Cascadia Daily News)Field engineer Robert Daniels checks the connection of different cords on the new buoy. Daniels said they aim to calibrate all the systems annually to ensure they’re still working properly and collecting accurate data. The batteries are sealed within the buoy to protect them, but when they malfunction, the whole buoy must be removed and fixed on dry land. (Hailey Hoffman/Cascadia Daily News)As the new buoy is released, ready to collect data, field engineers duck as a line snaps back. The buoy is now anchored to the bay’s floor 90-feet below. (Hailey Hoffman/Cascadia Daily News)The old buoy is lifted from the water with a crane at Squalicum Harbor. The base and the line were covered with barnacles and mussels after more than a year in the bay. The field engineers transported the buoy back to Seattle on a truck and will clean, recalibrate and fix anything broken on the buoy to eventually re-deploy it. (Hailey Hoffman/Cascadia Daily News)Liesl Danyluk uses a shovel to scrape off pounds of barnacles and mussels attached to the buoy. (Hailey Hoffman/Cascadia Daily News)
