Buzzards Lightship (Figure 8, Table 8) 
Surface water temperatures stayed substantially above the mean 
for Vineyard Sound Lightship throughout the year, and above those for 1956 
until the first part of November, when the two became comparable. The 
annual mean temperature of 52.3°F was higher than any for the period of 
record (1879-1910) at Vineyard Sound Lightship, which was stationed less 
than four miles away from the position of the present Buzzards Bay 
Lightship r 
Ten day mean salinity values showed a high of 32.80 % in mid- 
October and a low of only 32.07 % in mid-April. This contrasted with a 
1956 high of 32.36 %o and a low of 31.2 2. This difference reflects the 
low precipitation and runoff of 1957. 
TEMPERATURE ,°F 
a SURFACE S, %o 
SALINITY Yoo 
Figure 8. Buzzards Lightship, 1957. (Dashed line. mean for Vi 
: ‘ ° r Vin d Soun 
Lightship, 1878-1910) : Sane 
45 
