San Diego, California – San Diego Bay has a new addition floating in its waters — bright yellow smart buoys designed to monitor the health of one of the region’s most valuable natural assets. San Diego has already deployed the first of five panned smart buoys, ushering in a new era of real-time environmental monitoring to preserve the bay’s delicate ecosystem.
Developed by HyperKelp Inc., the buoys are part of the Port of San Diego’s Blue Economy Incubator, a program launched in 2016 to support sustainable ocean technologies. The bay generates an estimated $14 billion annually from industries like shipping, tourism, and fishing, making its environmental health a top priority.
The buoys, a few feet in diameter, are equipped with up to 20 sensors capable of measuring a range of environmental factors including water temperature, salinity, acidity, CO2 levels, air quality, and clarity. These sensors provide continuous data streams uploaded in real time to an online dashboard, offering a detailed and up-to-date picture of the bay’s condition.
One of the most innovative aspects of the buoys is their ability to collect acoustic data, allowing researchers to monitor underwater noise pollution. “There’s some concern that there’s a lot of underwater noise pollution that is interfering with underwater marine life,” said Dr. Graeme Rae, CEO of HyperKelp. Since sound travels faster and farther under water, noise from ships and other human activity can disrupt marine mammals like whales and dolphins, which rely on sound for communication and navigation.
Because the buoys can operate autonomously for up to a year, researchers hope to gather long-term baseline data that could help trace noise patterns back to specific vessels or activities. This information is critical to efforts like the Port’s Maritime Clean Air Strategy and Vessel Speed Reduction Program, which aim to reduce environmental impacts from maritime operations.
“We want to be proactive as environmental stewards and make sure we’re protecting those marine mammals,” said Jason Giffen with the Port of San Diego.
The smart buoys are easy to spot thanks to their bright yellow color, large square shape, and a small blinking light right at the top. In addition to monitoring noise, they house sensors that track chlorophyll levels to detect algae blooms and conductivity sensors that measure salinity across the harbor.
Beyond the buoys, the Blue Economy Incubator supports a range of ocean-focused projects, including a floating shellfish nursery, an underwater seaweed farm, and portable stormwater testing devices. The idea is to test innovative marine technologies in San Diego Bay before expanding them elsewhere.
“San Diego Bay right now is at its healthiest condition it’s been in the last 100 years,” Giffen said. The deployment of smart buoys and continued investment in sustainable solutions aim to keep it that way for generations.
