September 8, 2026 — A research buoy is something like an ant: A single one might not look like much, but put a bunch together and they can make something truly impressive.
In the water, a buoy becomes part of a larger system. Together, they provide all kinds of functions, from conducting ocean and weather research to helping satellites stay calibrated.
Buoys can handle almost anything the sea throws at them. William Burnett, a meteorologist who has led the National Data Buoy Center since 2022, described them continuing to collect data even after being “hit dead center by hurricanes.” That’s on top of the usual sources of wear-and-tear: rain, ice, barnacles, saltwater.
One of the biggest threats to buoys comes from surprisingly cute sources: seals and sea lions.
“We were noticing that the buoy cables were being chewed through,” Burnett noted in a phone interview.
To get around the problem, the National Data Buoy Center installed cages around the research devices. That’s mostly worked, though smarter animals do find a way to mess with them, even using them like makeshift surfboards.
“If they can find the platform,” Burnett said of these rambunctious animals, “they’ll get on it.”