Wave buoy takes a sabbatical
4 May 2016
Bay of Plenty Regional Council’s wave buoy will be out of the water for several months as the internal computer gets a
makeover.
The buoy, which sits 13km off Pukehina Beach, monitors and records information about wave heights, water temperature and
wave frequency. The live data is shared on the Councils website and is especially popular with boaties and surfers in
the region. However, the internal computer in the wave buoy is 14 years old this year and causing a number of issues.
Regional Council’s Data Services Manager Glenn Ellery said that the computer repairs would take a few months but they
hoped to have it ready in time for summer.
"Like any computer facing its 14th birthday, the wave buoy computer is requiring maintenance more regularly. With the
specialist parts needing to come from Canada it will be a few months before we have that live data streaming back
online,” Mr Ellery said.
While the wave buoy may be out of action, there is plenty of other data available on the Bay of Plenty Regional
Council’s live monitoring site, including data on the region’s soil, air, rivers and lakes.
ends