From the St. Lawrence to New York harbor, Lake Champlain to the Finger Lakes, the Empire State is rich in navigable waterways and an exhibit at this year’s New York State Fair reminds us that the Water is Great in New York State.

Weather sensing data is collected by a 7-foot buoy in the reflecting pool and displayed on a screen in a nearby tent. BUOY 16The buoy, on loan from the Great Lakes Research Consortium based at SUNY ESF, transmits air and water temperature, barometric pressure, wind speed and direction and solar radiation. “It’s an example of the buoys that are across New York, the Great Lakes and actually and across the world,” said Dave White of the New York Sea Grant. “For boaters it can provide them what’s happening with wave and weather conditions on the site they’re going to boat.”

The Water is Great tent features displays on safe boating from visibility to emergency kits to lifejackets for people and pets. BOATING 16Visitors can score some decals to identify the owners of stray crafts and reflectors to add safety through visibility. “These decals are put on the paddle,” White explained. “Other boaters will be able to see the reflected light when they’re out of the water.”

Fairgoers can also catch occasional demonstrations of an underwater vehicle in the pond. “It has a little camera on a gyroscope in it and it’s on a tether cord so you can drop it in the water and drive it around and it gives you a video of wherever it goes,” said Greg Boyer Great Lakes of the Research Consortium and SUNY ESF. UE 16“We would use this to find shipwrecks, to search the bottom for lost objects, to inspect things where you would normally have to put a diver in the water.”