NOAA Tsunami Buoy Washes Ashore

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The following appeared our local paper on Tuesday.

A LARGE buoy that was part of the Pacific Ocean tsunami warning system has been secured by Opotiki Coast locals. Photo supplied



Sven Carlsson

A LOST tsunami warning buoy belonging to the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration in the USA has been found and secured down the Coast.
Raukokore man Joe Rua said he had seen a flashing light out at sea at about 8pm on Wednesday evening.
“I rang the coastguard, trying to figure out what it was, in case peoples’ lives were at stake,” he said.
“The consistent flashing told me it was a beacon of some sort.”
After making several calls, Mr Rua ascertained there were no boats or people missing in the area.
At 10pm the same night, the buoy floated ashore at Tataramoa.
Marked NOAA – TSUNAMI, it is understood to be a DART buoy belonging to the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration
“The light I had seen was a solar panel-driven light that starts flashing at night,” Mr Rua said.
After speaking to harbour master Joe Burke, it was decided that Mr Rua and his mates should try to retrieve the two-tonne buoy.
They used local contractors to extract the buoy from among the rocks, employing a loader and digger to secure it from the heavy seas.
Mr Rua said the work was done on Thursday at 2am to catch the low tide and safeguard any electronic equipment from damage.
“The extraction was successful and the buoy recovered without any damage.”
Mr Rua said he understood that not only had the buoy come loose, but the GPS tracking electronics had failed.
“Apparently the buoy has been floating around the Pacific Ocean for some time,” he said.
Mr Rua said he was concerned not only that the buoy had been a danger to navigation, but that it might also carry unwanted organisms.
“They have fan worms in Tauranga and Auckland, and they wipe out our native species,” he said.
“Travelling on the hulls of boats, they might not come here for 10 to 20 years, unless they hitch a ride on something.”
Mr Rua said as there had been a warning about the buoy on the radio, he would have expected the Waihau Bay Coastguard to have been informed about it.
“The ocean currents make it likely that anything that floats around out there will land on our beaches.”
Mr Rua has yet to hear back from the United States about the buoy.
Bay of Plenty Regional Council spokeswoman Abby Tozer said a notification that a buoy was missing, and a request to look out for it, was received from the USA some time ago.
“I am glad the buoy has now been found,” she said.
Emails sent to the management of National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration in Washington had brought no response by the Opotiki News’ press time.

Buoy’s movements monitored

Emergency management Bay of Plenty director Clinton Naude said staff had been monitoring the buoy’s movements for past two weeks as it approached the Bay of Plenty coast.
“This followed a request from the ministry of civil defence and emergency management to report sightings of a NOAA Tsunami DART buoy that has been adrift since October 2015,” he said.
Liaison between the ministry, NIWA, NOAA and Emergency Management Bay of Plenty had continued through the week.
“The buoy washed ashore on Wednesday night and Emergency Management Bay of Plenty staff co-ordinated the initial recovery efforts and identified a suitable contractor that NOAA could contract to collect the buoy,” Mr Naude said.
“NOAA are in discussion with community members who recovered the buoy from the shoreline and are negotiating the collection and recovery of the buoy.”
No further action was required of Emergency Management Bay of Plenty.

Source:-    USA tsunami buoy washes up - Your News - Opotiki News

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