With rapidly changing conditions and threatening swells, the ocean can be a dangerous place for tribal fishers along the Olympic Coast.
Thanks to a partnership between the Quinault Indian Nation, Quileute Tribe and other Indigenous communities, fishers can get real-time data about ocean conditions.
The Backyard Buoys project was launched following outreach by several regional groups of the Integrated Ocean Observing System program, funded by the National Science Foundation, which found a need to support fisher and whaler safety by providing real-time ocean wave information. The project allows Indigenous communities throughout the Pacific Rim to deploy buoys that provide hourly data on conditions such as water temperature and wave height. The data can be viewed online or on the Backyard Buoys phone app.
“We want everyone who goes out on the water or the beaches to look at the app before they leave,” said Joe Schumacker, Quinault’s marine resources scientist.
The Quileute Tribe placed an electronic bulletin board at its marina, providing fishers with real-time weather forecasts, wave height data from the buoys, and mooring data streams for the Washington coast. This information can help boaters decide whether to leave the protection of the harbor or when it will be a good time to head back to shore. The data can save lives in a region where conditions can change quickly, and ports can be far away.
“We get Bering Sea-sized waves—those are Deadliest Catch monsters,” Schumacker said.
“Our harbor entrance can get pretty gnarly and can be dangerous,” said Jennifer Hagen, a marine policy advisor and marine biologist with the Quileute Tribe. “If they have a 40-foot vessel, they may not want to go out in anything bigger than 5-foot swells.”
The device that makes the Backyard Buoy system possible was developed by California-based Sofar Ocean Technologies. The buoys are a little larger than a basketball and include a payload for sensing their place in the universe to measure wave height, solar panels for power, and two-way communication. The number of operational buoys changes due to maintenance schedules, threatening weather and other factors, but Quileute and Quinault have deployed as many as three buoys each. Tribal members help determine where the buoys should be placed for best results.
Jennifer Hagen, a Quileute Tribe marine policy advisor and marine biologist, prepares to deploy a buoy. Photo proved by the Quileute Tribe. Story: Trevor Pyle
