High-tech buoys to monitor Encounter Bay waters
New Spotter buoys have been installed in waters off Victor Harbor, amid beach closures along the Fleurieu following a toxic algae outbreak.
The new high-tech Spotter buoys measure wave height and direction as well as water temperatures – critical data that will help in monitoring fluctuating sea conditions and their effects on the coastal environment.
Released into Encounter Bay in early March by Flinders University’s Associate Professor Graziela Miot da Silva and new PhD student Maya Lambert, the project will provide long-term monitoring and is a collaboration with Flinders University, the South Australian Research and Development (SARDI) Oceanography team and several district councils.
Graziela told InDaily that the data collected from the buoys will help predict future algal bloom events, particularly if they are caused by unseasonally hot waters.
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Unfortunately, prevention against future outbreaks is uncertain, as climate change sees warmer water temperatures across the state, encouraging the growth of such blooms.
The solar-powered buoys are the newest instalment in a developing national system of marine data collection devices as the agencies involved try to fill long-standing gaps in available information.
“They will provide good baseline data about coastal waters that has been lacking, and there has never been a better time to have more information about this stretch of ocean,” Miot da Silva said.
“There has been a significant gap in wave information available to researchers, managers, developers and policy makers. These buoys will make a huge difference.”
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Maintenance of the buoys will be funded jointly by the Victor Harbor Council and Flinders University through a three-and-a-half-year Enterprise Industry scholarship, but there are hopes that this will extend across a longer period.
With four other successful instalments across South Australia, Graziela is confident that councils will see the importance of collecting this data and therefore maintain the buoys in the long term.
Graziela said the buoys are already informing how councils implement coastline management techniques
“We can use the wave data to predict how long the current management techniques are going to be suitable for,” he said, which will ultimately improvr the efficiency of a council’s coastline strategy.
With persistent issues with coastal erosion and sediment transport, the growing network of buoys will also assist in beach replenishment efforts across Adelaide’s struggling metropolitan coastline.
The data collected has been made publicly available, presenting live updates on swell conditions, temperature and peak wave periods, offering an informative source for those who use the surrounding waterways.
