Commercial fishermen and the recreational boating community operating out of Esperance have access to improved information about ocean conditions following the deployment of a new directional wave buoy off the coast.

Department of Transport (DoT) Oceanographic Team Leader Tony Lamberto said the new buoy, which records the direction of waves as well as the height, had been deployed 10 nautical miles from Bandy Creek Boat Harbour to provide fishermen, boat owners and the wider community with comprehensive information about coastal conditions.

Mr Lamberto said the information from the buoy would significantly benefit the safety of those going to sea and provide long-term data to assist in the management of the coastline and also in the planning and design of coastal infrastructure.

"The initiative represents a significant improvement in the information available to skippers operating out of Esperance." Mr Lamberto said.

"Now skippers can log on to DoT's Coastal Data Centre website at any time and immediately access near real time wave height and direction to better assess conditions off the coast."

DoT introduced its first directional wave buoy off Rottnest in 2004 to provide more detailed information about conditions off the metropolitan coast.

Mr Lamberto said information from the new direction directional buoy off Esperance would add to data already being received from DoT's network of directional wave buoys located at Albany, Cape Naturaliste, Rottnest and Jurien. Another directional buoy will be deployed off Exmouth soon.

"The quality and detail of the coastal data collected by this network is a valuable resource. It is used for coastal infrastructure planning and design, improve marine safety and all maritime commercial and recreational activities," Mr Lamberto said.

"The information adds to the understanding of the wave climate off the coast to better manage the resource and it is also used by the Bureau of Meteorology as part of daily weather forecasting."

Department of Transport September 13th 2011