Walsh Creates Custom Buoy for Key Biscayne Bay

Walsh Marine recently built custom buoys for water quality monitoring in Key Biscayne Bay.

These “data buoys” have a few key components which make them useful for their specific application in Biscayne Bay:

• 2-Nautical mile solar powered light with custom swing away light mounts
• Stainless steel mooring eye dropped below buoy to clear equipment
• Two 4″ PVC pipes running through the shape in order to allow equipment installation

We provided these same buoys about 10 years ago and they were still being used until being destroyed by the hurricane last summer. These are the replacements for buoys that were 10+ years old, which is a testament to the quality of our product.

An estimated 65.5 million person-days are spent annually on Biscayne Bay, and the activities associated with the bay contribute about 10% of the total Miami-Dade County economy, including $12.7 billion in economic output, and 138,000 jobs. The natural environment and its quality play a major role in the popularity of the area, and 71% of local business owners agree that the aesthetic qualities of the bay are vitally important to this interest (source).

While the bay is generally healthy, three algal bloom events over the last decade have caused concern. The first event in 2003 caused reduced visibility and a loss of about 51% of sea grasses & other organisms within the affected area. The largest event has affected 7500 acres of bay bottom including loss of sea grass and habitat. Because of this, additional attention has been placed on water quality and any possible natural or human contributing factors.