Contact: Jeanne Kouhestani FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
5/14/98
Survey to ensure proposed artificial reef construction would be safe
In response to a proposal to enlarge or construct new artificial reefs in the main traffic corridors used by commercial and naval vessels, the NOAA ship WHITING is surveying approaches to the St. Johns River, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said today. The river serves the port of Jacksonville and the Mayport Naval Station.
The surveys, requested by the Jacksonville Waterway Management Council, are being conducted through NOAA's National Ocean Service, the agency responsible for surveying and charting the nation's coastal waterways for safe marine navigation.
WHITING, a 163-foot hydrographic survey vessel, has been working on the project since late March. The ship conducts 24-hour survey operations and deploys its two 30-foot survey launches daily for the inshore survey areas. The survey area is a four-mile-wide corridor extending to the east southeast from the St. Johns River entrance breakwaters to 25 miles offshore. WHITING will also investigate two small survey areas in the vicinity of the St. Mary's River at the request of the Navy.
In addition to survey echo sounders, WHITING and both survey launches tow side- scan sonar to ensure full coverage of the bottom. Paramount to the mission of updating the soundings on the nautical charts is locating wrecks and obstructions that pose a potential hazard to surface navigation.
The project is scheduled for completion by the end of June.
WHITING is one of only three hydrographic survey vessels remaining in the NOAA fleet tasked with updating the nation's charts. NOAA ships are operated and managed by officers and civilians of the Office of NOAA Corps Operations. The NOAA Corps is a uniformed service of the United States, composed of officers all scientists or engineers who provide NOAA with a useful blend of operational, management, and technical skills that support the agency's programs at sea, in the air, and ashore. WHITING, commanded by Lt. Cmdr. John Humphrey, is staffed with three additional NOAA Corps officers and 29 wage marine crew members.