The Pacific Islands Ocean Observing System (PacIOOS) redeployed on Mar. 2, its wave buoy in the waters off Aunu’u with the support of the National Park of American Samoa. The buoy is located more than three miles offshore and provides real-time data — freely available online —on wave height, direction, period, and sea surface temperature in 30-minute intervals, according to a news release.
“We are excited that the wave buoy is back in the water to serve our community. Having real-time wave observations at hand helps to keep our people safe, both in the water and on land,” Department of Marine and Wildlife Resources (DMWR) director Ruth Matagi-Tofiga said in a statement last Friday. “DMWR is a close partner of PacIOOS and we truly appreciate the availability of ocean data to inform our agency and the community at large.”
Fishermen, commercial operators, and other ocean users can access ocean data online to make well-informed and safe decisions with respect to current ocean conditions, according to DMWR.
Real-time wave data are also vital to inform the National Weather Service, emergency responders, and agency officials to prepare the community for big wave events that could potentially impact the islands, the news release says, adding that sea surface temperature information allows local marine biologists to monitor temperature changes that may harm coral reefs.
Peter Eves, Enforcement Division of DMWR and member of the PacIOOS Governing Council, asks boaters not to tie to the buoy and avoid fishing near the buoy to minimize entanglement in the mooring line.
“Fishing line and other gear can damage the buoy’s mooring line. We want to make sure the wave buoy stays operational for a long time,” Eves says in the news release. “It’s an important ocean observation instrument for American Samoa that we need to take good care of.”
The buoy joins the existing PacIOOS network of 13 real-time wave buoys across the Pacific. Data streaming for the PacIOOS wave buoy is made possible through long-term partnerships between PacIOOS, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and Coastal Data Information Program. Aunu’u wave buoy data online: http://oos.soest.hawaii.edu/pacioos/wavebuoy/aunuubuoy.php