Acquisition of a Small Boat by the Large Lakes Observatory

明尼苏达大学杜卢斯获得了一笔赠款，为大湖天文台的海洋设施增加了一艘较小的研究船。 该船将是一艘20英尺至24英尺长的铝制船，配有一个船舱和一个拖车，以促进对北美五大湖的近岸研究，以及对整个上中西部的湖泊、河流和河口的研究。 大湖天文台（LLO）的海洋设施目前拥有R/V蓝鹭，一艘78'的前大浅滩拖网渔船，配备了科学研究，这是大学国家海洋学实验室系统的一部分，该系统是美国学术船队的伞式组织。 增加一艘较小的船只将使LLO能够促进更广泛客户的研究和教育需求。 该船将被安置在LLO海洋设施在杜卢斯（MN）/上级（WI）港口，并将有方便地访问西部湖上级和圣路易斯河河口。 由于该船将有一个拖车，它将用于所有的五大湖以及整个中西部较小的湖泊和河流。 小型船的用户将能够利用R/V Blue Heron的船员和海洋技术人员的专业知识，以及作为海洋设施一部分的大型共用设备池。新船将用于浅水区域的广泛研究，包括河流，苏必利尔湖上级国家河口研究保护区的河口和沿海生态系统监测，以及圣路易斯河和海湾地区等水生系统的污染研究。 此外，研究人员将研究无机和有机碳库以及水生系统中的碳循环，五大湖中的营养循环，特别是氮，以及湖泊和河口系统以及船舶压载沃茨中入侵细菌和浮游动物的多样性。 该船将用于绘制包括商业渔业产卵区在内的湖底水深图，研究近岸鱼类生境和产卵，并致力于了解五大湖的自然湖沼学。 LLO的大型船只经常被用作教育推广的平台，这艘新船的增加将允许班级探索大型船只无法到达的区域，并将用于教师教育计划。有关大湖观测站的更多信息，请访问：http://www.d.umn.edu/llo/。

The University of Minnesota Duluth has been awarded a grant to add a smaller research vessel to the marine facility of the Large Lakes Observatory. The vessel will be a 20' to 24' long aluminum boat with a cabin and a trailer to facilitate near-shore research on the North American Great Lakes as well as research on lakes, rivers and estuaries throughout the upper Midwest. The Large Lakes Observatory's (LLO) marine facility currently houses the R/V Blue Heron, a 78' former Grand Banks fishing trawler outfitted for scientific research which is part of the University-National Oceanographic Laboratory System, the umbrella organization for the U.S. academic fleet. The addition of a smaller vessel will allow the LLO to facilitate the research and educational needs of a broader clientele. The boat will be housed at the LLO marine facility in the Duluth(MN)/Superior(WI) harbor and will have easy access to western Lake Superior and the St. Louis River estuary. Since the vessel will have a trailer, it will be used on all the Great Lakes as well as smaller lakes and rivers throughout the Midwest. Users of the smaller boat will be able to take advantage of the expertise of the crew and marine technical staff of the R/V Blue Heron, as well as the large pool of shared-use equipment that is a part of the marine facility.The new vessel will be used in a broad array of research in shallow water areas including riverine, estuary and coastal ecosystem monitoring in the Lake Superior National Estuarine Research Reserve and studies of contaminates in aquatic systems such as the St. Louis River and Bay Area of Concern. Additionally, researchers will study the inorganic and organic carbon pools and how carbon cycles in aquatic systems, nutrient cycling, especially nitrogen, in the Great Lakes, and the diversity of invasive bacteria and zooplankton in lacustrine and estuarine systems as well as ship ballast waters. The vessel will be used in the mapping of the bathymetry of the lake floor including commercial fishery spawning areas, studies of nearshore fish habitat and spawning, and work on understanding the physical limnology of the Great Lakes. The LLO's larger vessel has often been used as a platform for educational outreach, and the additional of this new vessel will allow classes to explore areas unreachable by the larger boat and will be used in teacher education programs. For more information about the Large Lakes Observatory please go to: http://www.d.umn.edu/llo/.