Boston, MA. -- The Coast Guard found the Nantucket Shoal buoy, which was blown off station by the remnants of Hurricane Noel, about 90 miles southeast of Nantucket, Mass., Monday.

Petty Officer 2nd Class Ryan McKenna, the underway officer of the day aboard the 210-foot Coast Guard Cutter Dependable, from Cape May, N.J., discovered the yellow whistle buoy adrift 23 nautical miles south from its normal position.

The Dependable towed the buoy approximately 75 miles before transferring it to the Willow, a 225-foot buoy-tending cutter from Newport R.I., at around 4 p.m., Tuesday.

"We were lucky to find the buoy 23 nautical miles off station, take it into tow and pass it off to the Cutter Willow," said Commander Laura Dickey, the commanding officer of the Dependable. "It was just another day in Coast Guard operations."

"The Nantucket Shoals and the buoy took a beating from the storm," said Petty Officer 2nd Class David Bothwick, a marine information specialist with the First Coast Guard District office. "We're fortunate that the cutter Dependable located our buoy and glad that it will again mark the way for mariners."

"The lost buoy was a hazard to navigation in two different ways," said Petty Officer 1st Class Robert Resendes, a First Coast Guard District Command Center controller. "Because it wasn't in its charted position, a vessel could have struck it. Also, vessels use the shoal approach buoy as a point of reference, and since it isn't were it should be, it could pose a problem." 

Anyone with knowledge of damaged or displaced aids to navigation, or other hazards to navigation, is urged to contact the First District Command Center at 617-223-8555.