Your logic reminds me of a carpenter my dad worked with. A piece of wood was too long and he would mark an end. My Dad would say, why not cut this end its closer and we don’t need to turn the board. The guy would answer, but this is the end that’s too long.
Anyway...a story came out and debunked this story. So we are safe.
That makes no sense at all. Water shallower means less depth of water, i.e. a shorter distance between the surface and the bottom.. Either the surface was somehow depressed, or the bottom rose, not fell.
I understand that the buoy’s elevation is measured by satellite, and that if the bottom of the sea goes down, the surface also goes down, at least temporarily. But that is not what was written! The story said, more than once, that the water got shallower. “Water column”, not “elevation of buoy”.
Anyway, enough of this. I have things to do tonight, and work tomorrow.