456 



BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF FISHERIES 



on the flood tide would be deflected to the Connecticut shore and that on the ebb to 

 the Long Island shore. Evidence of such deflection is found in the difference in range 

 of tide on the two shores, high water being higher and low water lower on the Con- 

 necticut shore than on the Long Island shore. (2) The configuration and liydro- 

 grapliic features of the Sound. The convergence of the shore lines between Strat- 

 ford Point and Oldfield Point and between Norwalk and Eatons Point confines the 

 tidal wave as it advances up the Sound, forcing the water to expand into the bays and 

 estuaries. Virtually all such areas are on the Connecticut shore, and the large 

 quantity of water that passes into them results in changing the course of the flood 

 tide during the latter period of rise. A similar rotation of the flood current, but in an 

 anticlockwise direction, has been reported for the Long Island shore, between Herods 

 Point and Ortons Point, by people long familiar with this region. 



Summarizing the current-meter observations, it can be stated that though the 

 tidal currents in Long Island Sound are chiefly of the rectilinear or reversing type, 

 there is a clockwise rotation along the Connecticut shore during the last half of the 

 flood tide. 



This rotary movement, combined with the greater velocity and duration of the 

 ebb current, resiflts in a dominant drift over the Connecticut oyster grounds in 

 approximately an ENE. direction. The observations indicated that during a tidal 

 cycle a floating object released at the beginning of ebb tide will travel toward the 

 entrance of the Sound with the ebb current, and on the change to flood will retrace 

 its path for about 3 hours and then swing in a large arc to the right toward the shore, 

 finally arriving at high water at a point about 2 miles ENE. from where it was released. 

 The actual course traveled by the floating object will vary somewhat according to the 

 range of tide, river discharge, and point of release. 



DRIFT-BOTTLE EXPERIMENTS 



On September 18 to 21, 1926, 500 drift bottles with drags attached were released 

 in groups at various places off Stratford Point and Milford. In Table 7 the general 

 record of release and recovery is given, and in Table 8 is shown the percentage 

 recovered during the first month in each of the three major regions — Connecticut, 

 entrance of the Sound, and Long Island. 



Table 7. — Drift-bottle record 



