Cape Cod Academy Students Launching Drifter Studying Turtle Strandings

OSTERVILLE – Students from Cape Cod Academy will launch a surface drifter into Cape Cod Bay this weekend, as part of a months-long science project aimed at learning more about sea turtle strandings.

In April, students attended a NOAA workshop and learned how to assemble the drifter, which will be used to help gather data on turtle strandings.

“The data collected from the drifter will help NOAA and other agencies learn more about the bay’s currents and how turtles may be impacted,” said Jane MacManus, a 5^th grade science teacher at Cape Cod Academy who helped pay for the Albatross.

The vessel will be released off of Sesuit Harbor at 10 a.m. Saturday.

Students from Cape Cod Academy’s Upper and Middle schools worked on the drifter, while students from the lower school helped decorate the vessel.