The western Lake Superior Buoys are maintained by the University of Minnesota Duluth Large Lakes Observatory, with funding from the Great Lakes Observing System and the National Science Foundation. They operate during the ice-free months each year, and are typically deployed in mid to late spring, and recovered in mid to late fall.

We are currently operating four buoys. Two are near McQuade Harbor, east of Duluth. Another is near Bark Point, WI on the south shore of the western arm. A fourth buoy is deployed as part of an NSF-funded study of springtime convection, and is moored in 600' deep water about 50km south of Grand Marais, MN.