Clever Buoy?

[Ken Jones]

In this month's SoCal pier reports Snookie reported the installation of a "Clever Buoy" at the Balboa Pier.

Is anyone familiar with these or does anyone know if they have they been installed at any other piers?

Balboa Pier — Our reporter Snookie said... "by the way this week the city decided to have a sonar device for sharks installed from Balboa Pier. IT is called CLEVER BUOY. There are several markers around the pier area and the pier itself has a box about the size of a traffic signal box on a corner placed at the end of the pier. The conduit has been laid, and as far as I can tell it is active now. There is supposed to be an app for the lifeguards to know when a shark is lurking nearby. Guess they didn't have one in Encinitas for that young man who was bitten. Wonder what the whales will register when they come through."

 

[Makairaa]

As far as I know this is the first deployment of the system in the US. Basically it is a series of sonar buoys that will pick up anything for a 1000 yards. You put a series of buoys out to make a virtual wall that registers anything that passes through it. The computer system running it is the secret though. It is a learning computer that is designed to become more accurate at reading the sonar marks the longer it is running. It reads the strength of the signal back, the size, and swim pattern of whatever it picks up and then uses its database to identify the object. If it considers the mark to be a large dangerous animal it will immediately signal the lifeguards. It will take a little time as the lifeguards will have to identify some of the large hits to tell the computer what they were as each place on the planet has a different set of predators. It will eventually be able to tell the difference of threshers to white sharks. Hammerheads vs makos. A school of sardines vs predators. Black sea bass vs bat rays. It is quite the system. How long to read accurately and how long the system lasts are the big questions. It was designed in australia and at the moment has been mostly temporarily installed to protect surfing competitions.

 

[scaryfish]

As far as I know this is the first deployment of the system in the US. Basically it is a series of sonar buoys that will pick up anything for a 1000 yards. You put a series of buoys out to make a virtual wall that registers anything that passes through it. The computer system running it is the secret though. It is a learning computer that is designed to become more accurate at reading the sonar marks the longer it is running. It reads the strength of the signal back, the size, and swim pattern of whatever it picks up and then uses its database to identify the object. If it considers the mark to be a large dangerous animal it will immediately signal the lifeguards. It will take a little time as the lifeguards will have to identify some of the large hits to tell the computer what they were as each place on the planet has a different set of predators. It will eventually be able to tell the difference of threshers to white sharks. Hammerheads vs makos. A school of sardines vs predators. Black sea bass vs bat rays. It is quite the system. How long to read accurately and how long the system lasts are the big questions. It was designed in australia and at the moment has been mostly temporarily installed to protect surfing competitions.

Yay! Can't wait for the land based buoys. It will eventually be able to tell the difference between a Latino and and an Anglo and an Asian and an African. A group of school children walking home vs a group of "thugs" roaming the streets. It will then be able to notify the police whenever it picks up a signal it thinks is dangerous. Another great use of human resources. All in favor, say I....