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<DIV><FONT size=4>Time to stop losing ocean data to vandalism</FONT></DIV>
<DIV class=author>Sidney Thurston and M. Ravichandran</DIV>
<DIV class=source>15 February 2012</DIV>
<DIV class=date><A
href="http://www.scidev.net/en/agriculture-and-environment/ocean-science-for-sustainable-development/opinions/time-to-stop-losing-ocean-data-to-vandalism.html">http://www.scidev.net/en/agriculture-and-environment/ocean-science-for-sustainable-development/opinions/time-to-stop-losing-ocean-data-to-vandalism.html</A></DIV>
<DIV class=date> </DIV>
<DIV class="article_content cf">
<P><STRONG>More must be done to prevent damage of ocean data buoys that costs
money, vital data — and lives, say <EM>Sidney Thurston </EM>and<EM> M.
Ravichandran</EM>.</STRONG></P>
<P>The global community relies on a rapidly expanding ocean observing network to
understand the climate and ecosystems, to help warn against ocean-borne hazards
such as tsunamis and storm surges caused by cyclones, and to support sea rescue
missions.</P>
<P>Sensors attached to moored or drifting buoys gather meteorological and
oceanographic data and transmit them in real time, via satellite, to scientific
and operational communities across the world.</P>
<P>For example, the Global Tropical Moored Buoy Array (GTMBA) (see figure 1)
provides real-time data for climate research and forecasting. Its major
components — including the TAO/TRITON array in the Pacific — monitor a range of
phenomena including the El Niño/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) in the Pacific,
hurricane activity in the Atlantic, and monsoons in the Indian Ocean.</P>
<DIV style="WIDTH: 422px" class="article_image article_image_left"><A
href="http://www.pmel.noaa.gov/tao/oceansites/images/map_lg.gif"
target=_blank><IMG
title="TAO Project Office, NOAA/PMEL (click to open full image in a new window)"
alt="TAO Project Office, NOAA/PMEL"
src="http://c96267.r67.cf3.rackcdn.com/map_lg-422px.gif"></A>
<DIV class="desc desc_with_credit"><FONT size=1>Figure 1. Map of the Global
Tropical Moored Buoy Array network, showing sites in the Atlantic, Indian and
Pacific oceans. </FONT><FONT size=1>Source: NOAA</FONT></DIV></DIV>
<P>But all types of moored ocean data buoys are increasingly at risk of damage —
whether deliberate vandalism or through negligence.</P>
<P>At its worst, vandalism and damage threatens the very sustainability of some
major observation networks, or substantial parts of them. It pushes up operating
costs and, crucially, it erodes the value and community benefit that monitoring
equipment provides through scientific knowledge.</P>
<P>Countries and fishers in South-East Asia must act against ocean buoy
vandalism.</P>
<P><STRONG>Buoy damage costs </STRONG></P>
<P>Vandalism and negligent damage takes many forms. It includes routine ship
collisions, damage from fishing lines, nets or cables, and direct exploitation
of moorings such as fish aggregation devices.</P>
<P>For example, when small fishes aggregate near the buoy to consume algae
growing on the buoy they attract big fish, and in the process large fish schools
can congregate around the buoy. Fishers who try to fish near the buoy get
entangled with the mooring, and when they try to retrieve their nets, they
damage mooring lines and sensors fitted on the buoys.</P>
<P>Sometimes nets drift due to currents, especially during the night, and become
entangled with a buoy. Fishers angry about tangled nets may damage the buoys
with gunshots, or may steal entire systems or their components. This is a sad
but true reality that can, and should be avoided.</P>
<P><STRONG>Damage is most common in the Indian Ocean.</STRONG> </P>
<P>Over half of the 36 tsunami moorings in the newly established Indian Ocean
Tsunami Warning System and Adjacent Seas network were damaged over a period of
four years. </P>
<P>Over a 9-month period in 2008, 18 TAO stations in the Tropical Pacific went
offline due of vandalism. Restoring them cost more than $1 million.</P>
<P>And in the Indian Ocean, tsunameter (equipment used to detect tsunamis)
networks have suffered over 30 vandalism incidents in four years, affecting over
half the stations at a cost of over US$3.5 million.</P>
<P>Wherever the damage occurs, it multiplies the budget needed to maintain these
systems. Not only that, crucial data are lost to both early warning systems and
longer term climate research.</P>
<P>In turn, this downgrades weather and marine forecast capabilities, makes
tsunami warning systems less reliable and undermines confidence in them. The
result could be significant loss of life and property as well as costly
evacuations in response to false tsunami warnings.</P>
<P><STRONG>Regulations, but not only</STRONG></P>
<P>In December 2009, the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission
adopted a binding measure to protect moored data buoys by restricting fishing
within one nautical mile.</P>
<P>In September 2010, the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission (IATTC), at
its eighty-first meeting, adopted a similarly worded non-binding Recommendation
Prohibiting Fishing on Data Buoys. These measures offer a new regional
management practice to minimise intentional or unintentional damage to ocean
data buoys.</P>
<P>The measures prohibit participating member states from fishing or interacting
with a buoy within one nautical mile of the instrument or its mooring line;
attaching a boat or any fishing gear to a data buoy or cutting a data buoy
anchor line; or taking on board a data buoy unless specifically authorized to do
so.</P>
<P>But these regulations are not enough to prevent damage in many developing
countries. Fishers need much better awareness of why these ocean buoys are
important, and how they benefit their own lives by helping with early warning of
severe weather, cyclones and tsunamis, and even providing data that help
identify areas where fish are likely to be abundant.</P>
<P>As for damage from deep-sea fishing vessels, concerned ports need to do more
to promote awareness about the importance of these monitoring systems.</P>
<P>And both fishermen and commercial shipping need practical information about
the location of buoys.</P>
<P>Ultimately, it is up to everyone using the ocean to realise that maintaining
these buoys holds tremendous benefits to their lives and
livelihoods. </P>
<P><EM>Sidney Thurston is international coordinator at NOAA's Global
Ocean-Climate Observations programme in Maryland, United States. M. Ravichandran
is a scientist and head of the Modeling and Observation Group of the Indian
National Centre for Ocean Information Services, Ministry of Earth Sciences,
India</EM>.</P>
<P><EM>This article is part of a <A
href="http://www.scidev.net/en/spotlights/"><FONT
color=#336699>Spotlight</FONT></A></EM><EM> on <A
href="http://www.scidev.net/en/agriculture-and-environment/ocean-science-for-sustainable-development"><FONT
color=#336699>Ocean science for sustainable
development</FONT></A>.</EM></P></DIV></FONT><BR>
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