… Federal funding cuts have targeted the network of ocean buoys that make up the Coastal Data Information Program (CDIP), which has been run by UC San Diego’s Scripps Institution of Oceanography for the past 50 years. The buoys can be found along the West Coast, the Gulf Coast, the East Coast and the Pacific Islands. (At present, 27 of them are off the coast of California.)… Experts say that eliminating the buoys may compromise the accuracy of weather forecasts. … The loss of buoy data could also mean fewer systems are in place to track toxins in the water and aid in public safety during natural disasters. Coastline monitoring helped protect people from exposure to dangerous bacteria and viruses during the 2017 Tijuana River sewage plume.