Wave buoy back in the water
For immediate release: Tuesday 24 November 2009

Environment Bay of Plenty’s wave buoy has returned to the water – in time for the summer surfers and boaties.

The buoy, which sits 13km off Pukehina Beach, monitors and records information about wave heights, water temperature and wave frequency. It is popular with boaties and surfers in the region, as its data can be viewed on Environment Bay of Plenty’s website www.envbop.govt.nz

Environment Bay of Plenty Data Services Manager Glenn Ellery said the buoy had been out of the water for a few months for its first major overhaul since it was put into operation in 2003.

“It’s given us the opportunity to improve our communications with the buoy which means we can change some of the data that is being collected, depending on our needs,” Mr Ellery said.

“This includes changing the frequency of the information being collected, which is especially important in situations such as a tsunami warning or similar event. It’s also great to see the data that we collect to do our business being used by the community in ways that were initially unimagined, thanks to the internet.”

The wave buoy data is available at www.envbop.govt.nz, along with other data collected by Environment Bay of Plenty relating to the region’s soil, air, rivers and lakes.

A photograph of the wave buoy being redeployed is available for download from our website at: http://www.envbop.govt.nz/News-Centre/Image-Gallery.aspx

ENDS

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