Deck crew members aboard the cutter Buckthorn, homeported in Sault Ste. Marie, Mich., inspect a buoy during Operation Fall Retrieve. The goal of the operation is to retrieve some 1,284 navigational aids, approximately half in the St. Mary's River region. Due to decreased vessel traffic in winter months, the buoys are taken out to minimize damage from ice and inclement weather and for repairs. The Coast Guard maintains the more than 50,000 federal aids to navigation - the traffic signals and signposts of the nation's waterways. US Coast Guard Art Program 2010 Collection, Ob ID # 201020, "Buoy maintenance," Beverly Golembeski, watercolor, 12 x 21.5
