Improving Off-Season Research Access to Shoals Marine Laboratory, Appledore Island, Maine

Cornell University, Ithaca NY

Investigators

Abstract

Cornell University is awarded a grant to develop off-season access to the Shoals Marine Laboratory (SML), a seasonal field-station on 95-acre Appledore Island in the Gulf of Maine and co-operated with the University of New Hampshire (http://www.sml.cornell.edu/). Since inception of research facilities at the island in 1973, the island has been closed to research activity from September to May due to lack of reliable power sources and limited sea access. This project involves adding large battery storage capacity to increase the breadth of research and training that can be undertaken at the island. The improvements to the electrical system will reliably provide for offseason housing and laboratory needs at a 500 square foot dry laboratory via an uninterruptible power supply consisting of a very large array of batteries chargeable by existing wind and solar power sources. The location of the system's installation near existing main generators will take advantage of centralized circuits with the goal of developing a green grid for the 24 buildings and facilities on the island. All-season access for research on Appledore Island via these improvements will increase the effectiveness of SML to researchers and students who study bird habitat utilization and migration, seasonal distribution and reproduction of marine mammals such as harbor and gray seals, and intertidal settlement patterns of marine invertebrate larvae. The improvements will also enable SML to continue progress in sustainable engineering, reducing its carbon footprint, and limit its fuel expenditures. Opening SML to off-season researchers and students will expand opportunities for new and/or expanded studies of the flora and fauna of the island and its unique location and access to a variety of field sites. For example, the Appledore Banding Station has operated for more than 25 years and banded more than 100,000 birds, yet is limited by only having island access from late spring to early fall. Intensive research on the populations of great black backed gulls (Larus marinus) and herring gulls (L. argentatus) on the island during the summer will be expanded to more intensive migratory and habitat usage studies over the winter months. Another developing research area concerns gray seals (Halichoerus grypus) and harbor seals (Phoca vitulina) in the southern Gulf of Maine. The critical months for observing reproductive behaviors of the nearby population span from December through April, when the only access is long trips from the mainland thus offseason access to Appledore Island will make it possible to begin monitoring this population throughout the year.