INDIAN ISLAND — Oceanographers will begin a two-month underwater survey of Port Townsend Bay for the Navy on Friday.
A Navy spokeswoman said it isn’t likely that anyone will notice the activity and that it will not disrupt harbor activities or wildlife.
“We’re doing this survey because the Navy needs to understand the physical oceanography of the harbor environment for any operations,” said the spokeswoman, Sheila Murray.
Naval Magazine Indian Island, which is just across Port Townsend Bay from the city of Port Townsend, is the only munitions storage and transfer depot on the West Coast for the Pacific Fleet.
“By doing this [survey], we can plan for the future and see if there is anything that could happen that would disrupt waterborne transportation around the base,” Murray said.
The oceanographers, civilians from the Naval Oceanographic Office Maritime Homeland Defense Support Division, are conducting similar surveys at 12 domestic military ports and harbors in support of homeland security, Murray added.
Oceanographers will map the physical layout of the bay’s marine floor by use of bottom-mapping, high-frequency sonar.
“It’s the same technology as a fish scanner,” Murray said.
“There will be no effect on wildlife.”
The oceanographers will use everything from simple sonar devices towed around the bay by boats to unmanned, underwater vehicles that can get close to the bottom of the bay.
Murray said the mapping of and planning in waterways is part of the Navy’s Maritime Strategy Policy.
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Reporter Erik Hidle can be reached at 360-385-2335 or aterik.hidle@peninsula dailynews.com.
