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After several weeks of bad weather, we are finally getting an opportunity to head to Rock Island (North West tip of Inis Mór). We have chartered MFV Sean Maír and her skipper Arek. We will be testing today for the first time our new Spotter manufactured by Sofar Ocean in the US. These miniature databuoy have all the features of the large metbuoys. We intend to assess the scientific worthiness of this instrument over a period of six months. We have aquired two spotters nicknamed WANDERER and EXPLORER. According the the manufacturer and the Commissionners of Irish Lights (CIL) we are first bringing these buoys to Ireland.

 

Wanderer and Explorer will help us understanding why and how waves are breaking. Spotters have been designed to drift across the oceans but they can as well be anchored to the seafloor. We have observed this portion of sea around the isle of Inis Mór for almos a year, after concerting with the local fishing community we know it is one of the roughest place to observe big waves.

We also intend to demonstrate that the research community and the fishing community can work together. Arek and Sean Mair are instrumental to Highwave, deploying instruments at sea requires good knowledge of the seaflloor and the local shoreline. Who better than a fisherman can deliver this to a research team...570EF830-9ACB-4D4D-9CD9-EEDF9EABB461_1_105_c.jpeg

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