Operational activities were directed by Captain Lynn Hein, the Federal 

 On-Scene Coordinator (OSC) from the USCG Cape Cod Air Station. Research- 

 related activities conducted by the OSC included the collection of hourly 

 meteorological data from the cutters Vigilant and Bittersweet, which were 

 stationed at the wreck site from December 15 to 31, 1976. Following brief 

 instructions from the SOR Team, officers on these cutters collected water 

 samples, from beneath the spilled oil for petroleum hydrocarbon analysis. 

 The USCG personnel also conducted surveillance flights to map the extent of 

 the spilled oil and to measure sea surface temperatures. Based on modeling 

 inputs and mapping information, they generated daily predictions of the 

 location of the oil. In addition, they supplied logistics on Coast Guard 

 aircraft and ships, on a noninterference basis, to allow scientific investi- 

 gators access to the site of the spill. 



The USCG Research and Development Center was active in assisting the 

 OSC, as well as in conducting research on the spilled oil. Center personnel 

 supplied short and long-term predictions of oil movement through modeling 

 efforts, and conducted an experiment to burn the oil. They conducted a 

 research cruise from the cutter Evergreen to collect water and sediment 

 samples for PHC analysis, and photographed the bottom in an effort to locate 

 oil contamination. R. Jadamec was responsible for the hydrocarbon screening 

 of all water and sediment samples collected by participating investigators. 

 Center personnel also played an active role on the SOR Team. 



The U.S. Navy's Atlantic Fleet Audio Visual Command provided a team of 

 divers equipped for underwater cinematography and photography at NOAA's 

 request. Diving under the floating oil, they photographed and described the 

 morphology of the underside of the slick, and determined the potential 

 implications to fisheries by observing the presence or absence of visible oil 

 in the water column and on the sea bottom. The Naval Underwater System 

 Center also supplied a current meter mooring, which was implanted from the 

 Endeavor . 



The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) , Department of the Interior, pro- 

 vided financial support for the NOAA-Coast Guard Spilled Oil Research Program 

 as well as several contractors involved in the North Atlantic Georges Bank 

 Continental Shelf environmental studies program. Aero-Marine Surveys, Inc. 

 Raytheon and EG&G, all BLM contractors, augmented USCG slick mapping efforts 

 and temperature and current observations. They also carried out oil slick 

 characterizations from overflights. 



The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) provided high 

 altitude photographic overflights, Landsat coverage checks, and false color 

 infrared photomosaic composites with the assistance of the U.S. Air Force 

 Tactical Air Command. Significant wave heights were measured by the Geo- 

 dynamics Experimental Ocean Satellite. NASA also computed drifting buoy 

 positions from Nimbus-F data and facilitated their delivery for on-scene use 

 in flight planning. 



Under contract to the Environmental Protection Agency, the New England 

 Air Photo Association conducted photographic overflights of the Argo Merchant 

 spill, from which EPA constructed natural color mosaics of the oil slick. 



