THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The seemingly unimportant wave buoys that could provide crucial data on conditions in seas during events like cyclone continue to be cut-off at sea by fishers, say scientists at National Centre of Earth Sciences Studies (NCESS). Buoys dropped at Thoothoor side were damaged two days before cyclone Ockhi. When mariners in deep seas experienced waves as high as eight to ten metres, the officials couldn’t receive the data.
Three NCESS wave buoys each worth Rs 50 to 60 lakh dropped at Kolachal, Kollam and Kozhikode calculate the wave height, frequency, direction and ocean temperature constantly. The buoys transfer data every half an hour to the servers of Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS). Real-time data also can be monitored using High Frequency (HF) waves.
However, the monitoring gets disrupted when fishers cut off the anchor leading to the temporary disappearance of buoys that are later spotted using GPS. “We had installed a buoy at Valiyathura where the power of waves was higher than in seas north to it. However, it was cut off several times. We took it 9km off Kollam coast, but it was cut off on December 14,” said NCESS Coastal Process Scientist L. Sheela Nair.
“Coastguards and officials themselves have to retrieve and reinstall them. We had already spent a lot of money on sensitising the community on their importance.” The anchors of wave buoys usually were cut off by fishermen when it gets in the way of their nets. Sometimes the buoys along with their anchor get accidentally towed away by vessels.
