This battered lobster trap buoy was trying desperately to get ashore in Great Cove on Sunday (March 15). It created rolling reflections like spilt paint on the rising tide as it tried to avoid the grasps of rockweed. Part of its problem was that it had lost its “buoy stick,” which would have kept its “bullet” vertical and allowed it to bob. There also was no sign of the line to which it apparently was attached.
Most lost buoys reportedly are slashed from their lines by the propellers of vessels. But, some may be result from recent wildlife protections designed to reduce the number of whale and other marine deaths due to entanglement in fishing gear. One of these protections is to attach the buoys to lobster traps with lines that have “weak links,” which have a breaking strength of no greater than 600 pounds. (Brooklin, Maine) Click on image to enlarge it.