Buoy

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

"Buoys" redirects here. For the band, see The Buoys.
For the French commune, see Bouy. For the Norwegian island, see Buy.

A sea lion on navigational buoy #14 in San Diego Harbor.

Green can #11 near the mouth of the Saugatuck River.

NOAA Weather buoy

A buoy (/b/, also /bw/ or US /bui/) is a floating device that can have many purposes. It
can be anchored (stationary) or allowed to drift with the sea wave. The word, of Old French or
Middle Dutch origin, is (in British English) now most commonly pronounced /b/ (identical
with boy, as in buoyant). In American English the pronunciation is closer to "boo-ee."

Contents

1 Types

2 Other uses

3 Gallery

4 See also

5 References

6 External links

Types

Sea mark aids pilotage by marking a maritime channel, hazard and administrative area
to allow boats and ships to navigate safely. Some navigational buoys are fitted with a bell
or gong, which sounds when waves move the buoy

Lifebuoy used as a life saving buoy designed to be thrown to a person in the water to
provide buoyancy. Usually has a connecting line allowing the casualty to be pulled to the
rescuer

Submarine communication buoys used for release in case of emergencies or for

communication

DAN buoy has several meanings:

o A large maritime navigational aid providing a platform for light and radio beacons
o A lifebuoy with flags used on yachts and smaller pleasure craft
o A temporary marker buoy used during Danish seine fishing to mark the anchor
position of a net.
o A temporary marker buoy set by danlayers during minesweeping operations to
indicate the boundaries of swept paths, swept areas, known hazards, and other
locations or reference points.
o A temporary marker buoy set to mark a man overboard position.

Large Navigational Buoy (LNB or Lanby buoy) is an automatic buoy over 10m high
equipped with a powerful light monitored electronically as a replacement for lightships.[1]

Sonobuoy used by anti-submarine warfare aircraft to detect submarines by SONAR

Surface marker buoy taken on dives by scuba divers to mark their position underwater[2]

Decompression buoy deployed by submerged scuba divers to mark their position

underwater whilst doing decompression stops

Shot buoy used to mark dive sites for the boat safety cover of scuba divers so that the
divers can descend to the dive site more easily in conditions of low visibility or tidal
currents and more safely do decompression stops on their ascent.

Safe water mark or Fairway Buoy a navigational buoy which marks the entrance to a
channel or a nearby landfall

Emergency Wreck Buoys - Emergency Wreck Buoys provide a clear and unambiguous
means of marking new wrecks. This buoy is used as a temporary response, typically for
the first 24 - 72 hours. This buoy is coloured in an equal number of blue and yellow
vertical stripes and is fitted with an alternating blue and yellow flashing light. This has
come about due to the collisions which occurred in the Dover Straits in 2002 when
vessels struck the new wreck of the Tricolour.[3]

lateral marker buoy

Mooring buoys used to keep one end of a mooring cable or chain on the water's surface
so that ships or boats can tie on to it

Tripping buoys used to keep one end of a 'tripping line' on the water's surface so that a
stuck anchor can more easily be freed

Weather buoys equipped to measure weather parameters such as air temperature,

barometric pressure, wind speed and direction and to report these data via satellite radio
links such as the purpose-built Argos System or commercial satellite phone networks to
meteorological centres for use in forecasting and climate study. May be anchored
(moored buoys) or allowed to drift (drifting buoys) in the open ocean currents. Position is
calculated by the satellite.

Tsunami buoys anchored buoys that can detect sudden changes in undersea water
pressure are used as part of tsunami warning systems in the Pacific Tsunami Warning
Center and Indian Oceans.

Spar buoy a tall, thin buoy that floats upright in the water, e.g. R/P FLIP.

Profiling buoy specialized models which adjust buoyancy so that they will sink at a
controlled rate to 2,000 metres below the surface while measuring sea temperatures and
salinity. After a time, typically 10 days, the buoy returns to the surface, transmits its data
via satellite, and then sinks again.[4] See Argo (oceanography).

Ice marking buoys used for marking ice holes in frozen lakes and rivers, so that
snowmobiles do not drive over the holes.

Marker buoys used in naval warfare, particularly anti-submarine warfare, is a lightemitting or smoke-emitting, or both, marker using some kind of pyrotechnic to provide
the flare and smoke. It is commonly a 3-inch (76 mm) diameter device about 20 inches
(500 mm) long that is set off by contact with seawater and floats on the surface. Some
markers extinguish after a set period and others are made to sink.

Lobster trap buoys brightly colored buoys used for the marking of lobster trap locations
so the person lobster fishing can find their lobster traps. Each lobster fisherman has his or
her own color markings or registration numbers so they know which ones are theirs. They
are only allowed to haul their own traps and must display their buoy color or license
number on their boat so law enforcement officials know what they should be hauling. The
buoys are brightly colored with highly visible numbers so they can be seen under
conditions when there is poor visibility like rain, fog, sea smoke, etc.[5][6]

Wave buoy used to measure the movement of the water surface as a wave train. The
wave train is analysed to determine statistics like the significant wave height and period,
and wave direction.

Target buoy used to simulate target (like small boat) in live fire exercise by naval and
coastal forces, usually targeted by weapons (medium size) like HMG's, rapid fire cannons
(20 or so mm), autocannons (bigger ones up to 40 and 57mm) and also anti-tank rockets.

Wreck buoy a buoy to mark a wrecked ship to warn other ships to keep away because
of unseen hazards.

Self-locating datum marker buoy (SLDMB) A 70% scale Coastal Ocean Dynamics
Experiment (CODE)/Davis-style oceanographic surface drifter with drogue vanes
between 30 and 100 cm deep.[7] This particular surface drifter is designed specifically for
deployment from a U.S. Coast Guard vessel or airframe for search and rescue. Since the
SLDMB has a very small surface area above the ocean surface and a high underwater
surface area, there is very little leeway in response to the direct forcing of winds and
waves.[8]

The space buoy is a common element in science fiction that refers to a stationary object
in outer space that provides navigation data or warnings about that particular area.

Buoy racing is the most prevalent form of yacht racing

Other uses

The word "buoyed" can also be used figuratively. For example, a person can buoy ('lift
up') someone's spirits by providing help and empathy.

George A. Stephen, founder of Weber-Stephen Products Co., invented the kettle grill by
cutting a metal buoy in half and fashioning a dome shaped grill with a rounded lid.[9]

Gallery

Several different buoys at a storage depot.


A buoy used as turn marker for sailing races.

Old iron buoys, most likely for mooring.

Children playing on a buoy in the Volga

A buoy beached at Sebastian Inlet State Park.

Emergency buoy of the Swedish submarine Nordkaparen

Gas buoy stranded on land after 1915 Galveston Hurricane, near Texas City, Texas

Starboard lateral Buoy (Lateral Mark - System B - IALA ) as Channel Marker Buoy at
"Ro de la Plata" river, Buenos Aires, Argentina

Envirtech Tsunami Buoy MKIII before deployment in Andaman Sea

Buoys in dry storage, Homer, Alaska

See also
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Buoys.
Nautical portal

Wikisource has the text of the 1911 Encyclopdia Britannica article Buoy.

Buoy anti-tank obstacle

Buoyancy

Buoyant force

American Practical Navigator

United States Coast Pilots

Day beacon

International Arctic Buoy Program

Lateral mark

Light List

List of lights

Lightvessel

Lighthouse