It’s no secret that plastic waste is destroying our oceans. From satellites that detect marine litter to a comprehensive litter map, institutions are recording this pollution worldwide. Pioneer of monitoring and surveillance solutions CLS Oceania carried out one such project, collaborating with the Indonesian Fisheries Authority to deploy buoys that monitored the movement of floating plastic. But, as plastic buoys would remain in the ocean long after the project was completed, they would contribute to the very problem they were there to measure. “It seemed contradictory,” Oliver Palin, Environmental and Fisheries Technician at CLS Oceania told RESET. “So, the wooden buoy was born.”
Wooden buoys have multiple benefits over plastic
Unlike regular buoys made from plastic and fibreglass, CLS Oceania created a buoy built from accoya wood. The only non-biodegradable elements are the electronics, battery and antennae—although, with trials of biodegradable electronics underway, perhaps the whole device could be decomposable in the future. While a plastic buoy functions for just two years before floating in the ocean as plastic waste, the wooden buoy has a lifespan of 10.
According to Palin, “wood has other benefits.” These include better insulation properties, which helpfully ensure the batteries and electronics don’t freeze in cold oceans. While plastic and fibreglass restrict buoy designs to a single mould, wood offers greater customisation. “[We can] create small batches of very specific buoy shapes such as those designed to drift with sea ice or plastic bottles.”
“The sky’s the limit” when it comes to wooden buoy use cases
Palin and his team originally designed the wooden buoy to monitor ocean currents and drifting plastic. But “the sky’s the limit” when it comes to suitable use cases and CLS Oceania’s team is adapting their design accordingly. They have added a sea surface temperature sensor “that’s very useful for climate scientists monitoring changes in ocean temperature.” The buoys could carry out weather forecasting with the addition of a barometer—a potential future design. And they are currently developing “a version that is in the shape of an iceberg to track the movement of melting sea ice.”
With the biggest problem so far being “meeting demand”, the wooden buoy’s future looks bright. CLS Oceania is fielding “interest from scientific research institutes as well as government agencies”. They plan to let clients “dictate the direction of development in terms of sensors and shapes”, ensuring the technology adapts according to where it’s most needed. With an ocean full of biodegradable wooden buoys, all that’s left is to ensure we reduce the plastic waste that they’re there to detect.