FY 1979

Recovery record for surface drift cards released in the Puget Sound-Strait of Juan de Fuca system during calendar years 1976–1977

Pashinski, D.J., and R.L. Charnell

NOAA Tech. Memo. ERL PMEL-14, NTIS: PB-299047/1GA, 30 pp (1979)

The Puget Sound Drift Program released 5000 polypropylene drift cards in the Puget Sound and Strait of Juan de Fuca system between April 1976 and July 1977. By November 1977, 1,470 replies had been processed. These replies were analyzed statistically as well as descriptively. Winds with time scales varying from hours to weeks, as a function of system spatial constraints, have been found to be the dominant factor influencing the grounding of drifters. The migration of the drifters was consistent with a mean estuarine flow of 6 km per day with a superimposed dispersive component of 7 km per day. The average time a drifter was waterborne, likewise a function of system spatial constraints, ranged from less than 1 day in Puget Sound to greater than 3 days in the Strait of Juan de Fuca.