The last of three new climate-monitoring and maritime-safety buoys has been retrieved for the season from the south shore of Lake Superior. From left are Jeff Koch and Tyler Penrod, both of the Superior Watershed Partnership, and Brett DeLonge from the Michigan Department of Natural Resources. (Photo courtesy of SWP)

MARQUETTE — The last of three new climate-monitoring and maritime-safety buoys has been brought in for the season from the south shore of Lake Superior as Superior Watershed Partnership staff retrieved the Marquette buoy on Monday with boat support provided by the Michigan Department of Natural Resources.

SWP reported it received $47,786.80 in grant funding through the Great Lakes Observing System to purchase and deploy three new monitoring buoys during the 2021 season. New buoys were deployed at Marquette, Munising and Grand Marais.

The Marquette buoy was placed northeast of Black Rocks at a new location determined by the U.S. Coast Guard in cooperation with SWP, DNR and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, SWP said. The Munising and Grand Marais buoys were deployed and retrieved by SWP staff with boat support provided by Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore.

Each of the three monitoring buoys collect important navigation and climate planning data, including wave height, wind speed, water temperature and more, SWP said. The live data provided by these buoys is critical for commercial and recreational boaters as well as the National Weather Service, Environment Canada and NOAA. In addition, the SWP uses buoy data for long-term climate adaptation planning with coastal communities in the Upper Peninsula.

SWP is a Great Lakes non-profit organization focusing on environmental conservation, habitat restoration and community climate adaptation throughout the U.P.

Visit www.superiorwatersheds.org for details. More information on the GLOS monitoring buoy program can be found at https://glos.org.