Call me, Ishmael.
February 25, 2017 3:31 PM Subscribe
Station 51000, a buoy, came unmoored in 2013. It's still reporting, and some Eddystone Light-hearted genius has hybridized the data with Moby Dick.
( Or possibly it isn't lost at all? NOAA still lists it with lat-long. )
Is there any source that actually confirms that Station 51000 is adrift?
posted by schmod at 4:07 PM on February 25, 2017
posted by schmod at 4:07 PM on February 25, 2017
Putting the reported lat-long from OP2 into Google Maps seems to confirm that 51000 is pretty much where it is supposed to be.
posted by Bringer Tom at 4:20 PM on February 25, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by Bringer Tom at 4:20 PM on February 25, 2017 [1 favorite]
"The Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), National Data Buoy Center (NDBC), has a requirement for vessel services with diver to retrieve and return to Honolulu, Hawaii, a NOAA 3 (three) Meter Buoy #3DV21 deployed at Station 51000 (approximately 245 NM North East of Honolulu, Hawaii) in accordance with the attached Statement of Work (SOW), dated December 16, 2015. [...] The required delivery date to recover/retrieve the buoy and return to the port of Honolulu, Hawaii is January 31, 2016 after receipt of order."
posted by effbot at 4:21 PM on February 25, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by effbot at 4:21 PM on February 25, 2017 [1 favorite]
Oh jeez. The environmental assessment for grabbing the thing and bringing it in to be repaired is almost as long as Moby Dick.
posted by schmod at 4:28 PM on February 25, 2017 [4 favorites]
posted by schmod at 4:28 PM on February 25, 2017 [4 favorites]
Heh.
[Environmental planning geekery: seriously, NOAA, don't you have a categorical exclusion for this sort of thing? Sigh.]
posted by suelac at 6:02 PM on February 25, 2017 [2 favorites]
[Environmental planning geekery: seriously, NOAA, don't you have a categorical exclusion for this sort of thing? Sigh.]
posted by suelac at 6:02 PM on February 25, 2017 [2 favorites]
According to effbot's link the buoy is not adrift, it has grounded, which is presumably why it hasn't traveled too far. The problem is that as the seasons change the sea will get rougher possibly turning it into a battering buoy damaging the reef if it isn't removed.
posted by Bringer Tom at 6:19 PM on February 25, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by Bringer Tom at 6:19 PM on February 25, 2017 [1 favorite]
QUICK someone go grab the buoy and take it on a whirlwind tour of well-known landmarks and post photos.
(... if you can take 52Hz along too that'd be awesome thx)
posted by The otter lady at 7:28 PM on February 25, 2017 [3 favorites]
(... if you can take 52Hz along too that'd be awesome thx)
posted by The otter lady at 7:28 PM on February 25, 2017 [3 favorites]
[Environmental planning geekery: seriously, NOAA, don't you have a categorical exclusion for this sort of thing? Sigh.]
There are certainly dozens of competent mariners that could handle this problem in a few days, but not to go all Trump, none have the financial or legal ability to be involved with this kind of project.
posted by sammyo at 4:46 AM on February 26, 2017
There are certainly dozens of competent mariners that could handle this problem in a few days, but not to go all Trump, none have the financial or legal ability to be involved with this kind of project.
posted by sammyo at 4:46 AM on February 26, 2017
So for the timeline:
posted by effbot at 4:58 AM on February 26, 2017 [2 favorites]
On March 10, 2013, the National Weather Service (NWS) NDBC became aware that NOAA buoy 3DV21 had gone adrift from its moored location approximately 245 nautical miles (nm) northeast of Honolulu. On or about November 4, 2015, the adrift buoy grounded at 27.976°N, 173.86°W, 7 nm southeast of Lisianski Island within the Neva Shoal.which is inside Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument. It was retrieved on May 26 last year. The Twitter persona doesn't seem to have noticed.
posted by effbot at 4:58 AM on February 26, 2017 [2 favorites]
Mark Sample made this bot. You can see more of his bots here. I assign his essay "A protest bot is a bot so specific you can’t mistake it for bullshit" in many of my classes about digital literature.
posted by aparrish at 1:05 PM on February 26, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by aparrish at 1:05 PM on February 26, 2017 [2 favorites]
There are certainly dozens of competent mariners that could handle this problem in a few days, but not to go all Trump, none have the financial or legal ability to be involved with this kind of project.
Oh, that's not what I meant. I was talking about the environmental analysis, not the action itself. I was surprised that NOAA had to write an entire Environmental Assessment (EA), linked above, to analyze the environmental impacts of recovering the buoy. Federal agencies have the ability to identify types of actions that they reasonably expect to have to do, and then do one group environmental review of that category of action.
So for instance the National Park Service doesn't have to do an EA for every backpacking permit they issue: all backpacking permits are excluded from individual review because the entire category of action "granting backpacking permits" has been analyzed and determined to have no adverse environmental effects (so long as certain conditions are met).
Which is a long way of saying: NOAA probably loses buoys or other equipment with some regularity, given where they're operating. I would expect them to have analyzed the environmental effects of recovering lost equipment in general, so that when this happens they only have to write a one-page memo for file instead of a 200-page report.
[/end NEPA geekery]
posted by suelac at 1:24 PM on February 26, 2017 [2 favorites]
Oh, that's not what I meant. I was talking about the environmental analysis, not the action itself. I was surprised that NOAA had to write an entire Environmental Assessment (EA), linked above, to analyze the environmental impacts of recovering the buoy. Federal agencies have the ability to identify types of actions that they reasonably expect to have to do, and then do one group environmental review of that category of action.
So for instance the National Park Service doesn't have to do an EA for every backpacking permit they issue: all backpacking permits are excluded from individual review because the entire category of action "granting backpacking permits" has been analyzed and determined to have no adverse environmental effects (so long as certain conditions are met).
Which is a long way of saying: NOAA probably loses buoys or other equipment with some regularity, given where they're operating. I would expect them to have analyzed the environmental effects of recovering lost equipment in general, so that when this happens they only have to write a one-page memo for file instead of a 200-page report.
[/end NEPA geekery]
posted by suelac at 1:24 PM on February 26, 2017 [2 favorites]
I'm sure they lose buoys now and then (or damage other machinery), the issues here seem to be more the location it ended up in and the specifics of the salvaging operation.
posted by effbot at 1:42 PM on February 26, 2017
posted by effbot at 1:42 PM on February 26, 2017
Well, yes, that would make a difference, wouldn't it? Oy.
posted by suelac at 3:55 PM on February 26, 2017
posted by suelac at 3:55 PM on February 26, 2017
I dunno, I just skimmed the first part of it and saw nothing generic and no signs of this being a recurring issue, but I'm no expert on buoy salvage expeditions in the Lisianski Island area, so I'm ok with you winning this remarkably pointless internet debate if it makes you feel better.
posted by effbot at 1:50 AM on February 27, 2017
posted by effbot at 1:50 AM on February 27, 2017
Don t worry, Congress ll probably get rid of NEPA soon enough, and you won t have to worry about knowing too much about your nation, or whether it has lost any buoys.
I just enjoyed reading through the various sections about the water temps of Hawaii. Isn't this monument relatively new? Isn't it appropriate to be careful and document it?
I'm very glad that someone took the time to consider the most careful way to retrieve a buoy; the document now serves as a guide to any competent mariner who would want to do such a thing in the future--they wouldn t need a policy document, because NOAA just wrote and published it for them. I'm pretty sure most mariners can use a word processor and copy the thing.
Oil and Gas operations constantly get 'exclusions' and exemptions and FONSI from NEPA and CWA and RCRA and CAA, by hook and by crook and by congressional fiat or obstruction.
I know that, in Louisiana, we are forced to do the environmental planning for oil and gas on the backs of other projects because the industries that have destroyed the environment don't have to play by these rules.
Witness, the delta restoration project that must take care of the dolphin populations that BP laid waste to, and will not make whole.
We shouldn't get rid of NEPA, it's much too valuable a tool for innovation and communication across agencies. We should just apply it to the industries that are most damaging to the environment.
posted by eustatic at 7:35 AM on February 27, 2017
I just enjoyed reading through the various sections about the water temps of Hawaii. Isn't this monument relatively new? Isn't it appropriate to be careful and document it?
I'm very glad that someone took the time to consider the most careful way to retrieve a buoy; the document now serves as a guide to any competent mariner who would want to do such a thing in the future--they wouldn t need a policy document, because NOAA just wrote and published it for them. I'm pretty sure most mariners can use a word processor and copy the thing.
Oil and Gas operations constantly get 'exclusions' and exemptions and FONSI from NEPA and CWA and RCRA and CAA, by hook and by crook and by congressional fiat or obstruction.
I know that, in Louisiana, we are forced to do the environmental planning for oil and gas on the backs of other projects because the industries that have destroyed the environment don't have to play by these rules.
Witness, the delta restoration project that must take care of the dolphin populations that BP laid waste to, and will not make whole.
We shouldn't get rid of NEPA, it's much too valuable a tool for innovation and communication across agencies. We should just apply it to the industries that are most damaging to the environment.
posted by eustatic at 7:35 AM on February 27, 2017
« Older "It’s imperative to make sure that these... | Safety Pins and Swastikas Newer »
This thread has been archived and is closed to new comments
posted by The otter lady at 4:02 PM on February 25, 2017 [6 favorites]