Wave buoy back in action

8 October 2014

Bay of Plenty Regional Council’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 live on the Regional Council’s website www.boprc.govt.nz

Regional Council’s Data Services Manager Glenn Ellery said the buoy had been out of the water for a couple of months following it washing up on a beach in July. Staff have taken the opportunity for a full check-up and overhaul.

“We were fortunate that there wasn’t much damage to the buoy when it broke free, but it is a specialist piece of equipment so we had to send away overseas for parts. So we took the opportunity to give it a good overhaul and service. We also replaced the mooring, including the very specialised bungy that allows us to measure wave height.

“We know it is one of the most popular pages on our live monitoring site so it must have been well-missed by Tauranga locals. We’re pleased to get it back up and working in time for the spring and summer boaties and surfers to check before they head out,” Mr Ellery said.

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

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