My question would be what is the effect on marine life of so many bouys floating around.

From what I can tell the impact is less on the marine life as these are basically just buoys floating around. In fact it could be beneficial as it would restrict fishing to some degree. The fishermen are up in arms as they will have to avoid many of these areas. It appears that prime wave energy park areas are also prime fish habitat areas. But it's a fairly benign technology.

Thanks Larry. I sometimes think that every part of the country could use some aspect of nature unique to them to help generate energy either solar, wind, geothermal, and now perhaps wave.  

There's nothing more reliable on the Oregon coast then waves... It's just a matter of making it work for all parties.

Larry~ 

First of all..WELCOME to the ECO-All-Stars group! I'm janeAnne, the Moderator and am so happy you have joined us.

I'm a Big Fan of the Oregon Coast having lived in the Northwest for many years before relocating to Asheville. Like Bill, my first thought was about the impact on sea creatures...Thanks for your information. Keep it coming!

Janeanne - Thanks for the welcome. I haven't looked into these a lot, but my understanding is taht there would be much less of an environmental impact the hydro electric currently has. There appear to be several different platforms with some being shore based catching the power of teh waves, others resting on the bottom and others tethered to the bottom. I'm sure each has it's advantages. Sounds like a pretty exciting field to be in.

Larry,  how will this affect wave surfing?  I have a step brother in the area.

If they are on the surface there won't be surfing allowed in that particular area. But my hunch also is taht these will be placed outside of the break. I believe they are using the swell as opposed to the break.

Larry thanks in the swell area makes sense.

Really interesting stuff. Again, putting you at the top with a featured post : )

Thanks Kelli. It's pretty cool technology. It'll be interesting to see how this impacts the coastal economy.

That's a great idea - I was thinking of something like this only more in terms of harnissing the power of waves crashing somehow. But not being a scientist I don't know how this would work.

Thanks for the info! 

Me too. But crashing waves create a lot of damage. Lathough, one of the potential methods did capture the energy on the shoreline. I would think the swell would be much less damaging.