1.4 Participants 



Representatives of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 

 (NOAA) , including personnel from the Environmental Research Laboratories 

 (ERL) , Environmental Data Service (EDS), and National Marine Fisheries Ser- 

 vice (NMFS) , worked on the scene of the grounded Avgo Merchant . The National 

 Weather Service, although not on scene, responded to the spill with special 

 weather forecasts. 



The NOAA-U. S. Coast Guard Spilled Oil Research (SOR) program is managed 

 by the Outer Continental Shelf Environmental Assessment Program Office of 

 NOAA's Environmental Research Laboratories and is funded in part by the 

 Bureau of Land Management, Department of the Interior. The SOR Team, in 

 addition to conducting its own limited research, assisted in the coordination 

 of research activities launched in response to the oil spill at the request 

 of the Federal On-Scene Coordinator. These research activities include 

 photographically documenting the behavior of the oil, and measuring oil 

 velocities and oil-water differential velocities from overflights in char- 

 tered aircraft and USCG planes and helicopters. The SOR Team dropped drift 

 cards and deployed a satellite-tracked buoy as part of oil-mapping efforts. 

 The team also made surface current measurements as input for trajectory 

 predictions, and sampled the oil and water column over time to study the 

 effect and extent of weathering. 



Special forecasts were provided by the National Weater Service for the 

 Nantucket Shoals - Fishing Rip area in support of the OSC. Two to six fore- 

 casts per day were available on demand commencing at noon December 15. 

 Hourly surface weather data were collected for the Massachusetts coast. 



The National Marine Fisheries Services (NMFS) conducted two cruises on 

 the NOAA research vessel Delaware II in the area of the grounding, taking 

 temperature profiles and sampling fish, plankton, water and sediments. 

 Samples of fish and invertebrates were selected for hydrocarbon analysis. 

 NMFS analyzed the biological samples for impact of Argo Merchant oil and 

 conducted ^ port survey to assess the impact on fishing activities. 



The Center for Experiment Design and Data Analysis (CEDDA) of NOAA's 

 Environmental Data Service carried out a modeling study based on historical 

 wind records and local current measurements at the request of the OSC on 

 December 28. They also supplied additional manpower to augment the Spilled 

 Oil Research Team's efforts at Cape Cod as did NOAA's Environmental Research 

 Laboratory. The NOAA Data Buoy Office made satellite tracked drifting buoys 

 available for use in tracking oil and measuring currents. CEDDA personnel 

 prepared an interim report on January 3, 1977, for use by all participating 

 investigators and also prepared this report. 



The U. S. Coast Guard (USCG) served as the focal point for all opera- 

 tional activities through the Marine Safety Office, First Coast Guard Dis- 

 trict, Boston, Massachusetts, with support from the Coast Guard Oceano- 

 graphic Unit, Washington, D. C, and in addition participated in the research 

 program through the Coast Guard Research and Development Center, Groton, 

 Connecticut. 



