Right in our neighborhood of North Falmouth, Ward Aquafarms has used four tilt current meters (TCM-1’s) to evaluate sites for bay scallop aquaculture. “We have four farms participating, so the deployment depth is different on each one. Two of the farms are in about 20′ of water, one farm is in 8′ of water, and the final farm is intertidal, so the cage and flow meter go dry and sit on sand twice a day at low tide”, Dan Ward, Owner of the business said.
The tilt current meter was tied to a cage via a rope secured with a zip tie and thrown off the side of a boat. “I use overall flow rate velocity primarily, though I check temperature as well. I have done one download for each farm after either a 4-month or 8-month deployment. I have converted the files to show velocity…Thus far, I’ve learned more about the flow meters than anything having to do with the sites.” Ward’s project focuses on “four different environments on four different commercial farms ranging from intertidal to subtidal and estuarine to open-ocean” to determine the best conditions for growing bay scallops locally and to expand aquaculture on the Cape.
Products Used
TCM-1
The TCM-1 Tilt Current Meter is ideal for measuring water velocity from inland to the edge of the continental shelf.