Mapping The Long Island Sound

By Holli Haerr

Aaaah, yes. Anytime I can hang out on a boat for a few hours at work, is definitely a GOOD day...especially when it's gorgeous outside like it was today.

Photographer Ed Sweeting and I got the plum assignment of heading out to Mattituck Inlet and getting on a little boat that took us to a much bigger ship, the Thomas Jefferson. You would not believe the amazing view with the mist rising off the water.

Our assignment was to watch the crew of a NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) ship, the Thomas Jefferson. They have been mapping the bottom of the Long Island Sound between Plum Island and Horton's Point in Southold for a few weeks. They're checking out rocks, wrecks and water depths so that shipping charts can be updated. After going south for the winter, they plan to continue their work next year a little further west.

The Commanding Officer of the ship, Commander Tod Schattgen, showed me on the chart that some of the areas haven't been mapped since the 1800s! Back then, the technology certainly wasn't what it was today. Today's crew has sonars and a bunch of other stuff, including a device that looks like a torpedo that checks water temperature and the salt content. They also have two smaller boats that can go into shallower water with their own equipment.

Not only will this help boaters avoid dangerous underwater obstacles, there's another benefit. Environmentalists can use the reports of runoff, silt and sediment, to study pollution and fish habitats.

All in all, it wasn't just a great day at work - it sounds like a great project for Long Island.