Barber's Point, Oahu, Hawaii Drift Card Study 2002-2004

Drift cards were be released from Barber's Point, Oahu, approximately once a month during the two year span to get an idea of the distribution of card drift under different environmental conditions. A 100 cards were released each time. Winds and currents usually shift speed and direction as the seasons change, so cards released during different seasons of the year may drift to very different places.NOAA, National Ocean Survey, Office of Response and Restoration, Hazardous Materials Division, in cooperation with the Clean Island Council Spill Response Cooperative, Chevron, Tesoro, NOAA's National Weather Service, and the US Coast Guard, conducted a near shore drift card study from the fall of 2002 until the fall of 2004. Cards were relased from Barber's Point, Oahu, Hawaii. Barber's Point is of interest for two reasons: (1) There are complicated tidal effects offshore of Oahu. It is an area where currents are highly variable and diffifi cult to predict with any certainty. (2) The Barber's Point Chevron and Tesoro mooring buoys are good reference points that can be returned to month after month. Should someone wish to repeat or extend this drift card study, we would expect that the moorings would still be there. A drift card is a 4"x 6"x 1/8" wooden card painted with non-toxic paint that when released into the ocean, will float and be affected by various environmental conditions, such as winds and currents.