Angela - Melbourne & Ft Pierce

In my quest for plastic, in order to compare plastic content on FL's east coast to its west coast, I visited Melbourne and Ft. Pierce on October 19, 2013.

2-quart jar filled with plastic, Ft. Pierce

On a good note:  Someone asked me if I was a biologist or other type of scientist (I wish), and was genuinely interested in my project instead of turtles.

Tiny piece of blue plastic inside small shell

On a bad note: I'm half speechless and half need to wisely consider my words in order to stay professional. I guess nobody felt like cleaning up the two beaches during International Coastal Cleanup day? The high tide line at both beaches was littered with plastic pieces ranging in size from a grain of rice to the palm of my hand. 

 

Barnacle on plastic debris

 Neither beach I had to travel far to fill a jar with plastic pieces within the allotted hour time frame. I spent most of my time crawling along the high tide line or on my knees picking through the washed up seaweed, which was filthy and tedious work and I LOVED every nanosecond of it. Every piece I picked up is one less piece that could possibly get washed back into the ocean.   

Resin Pellet

At Fort Pierce, I actually found a couple of resin pellets, as well as bottle caps from Haiti. However, I also found pieces of spoons and entire toothbrushes, and I have a hard time determining if pieces are from the North Atlantic garbage patch, cruise ships, or lazy beachgoers that just leave trash behind. Nevertheless - no matter the source-plastic on the beach and in the ocean is a problem.

"Brasserie Nationale d'Haiti S.A."

Late observation: With the exception of Marineland, it seems the further south I search on the east coast the more plastic I find, also, the more washed up seaweed the more plastic content. I'm going to start measuring the width of seaweed scatter on the high tide line as additional data.

Rebecca - Mole Crabs

My first Mole Crab!

I went for another practice run last night to try and catch some mole crabs. I got all the way to Tom Renick Park and realized I left my rake to catch them at home! I decided to just walk the beach and work on learning how to spot mole crabs in the sand. I walked north from the beach ramp about 500 feet and decided to stand out where the waves break, the swash zone, and just observe for awhile. My helpers decided to play in the sand farther up the beach and after a few minutes my son yelled out that he had found a mole crab! I scooped the little crab up and took a picture. Then I took a 1/2 cup sediment sample of the sand he was digging in. I dug around the same area but was only able to find one other mole crab so I continued my walk of the beach.
      I walked a third of a mile, occasionally pausing to look in the swash zone, before I turned back. I was a little disappointed that I had only found two mole crabs but I started thinking about when I was a kid and would dig them up at the beach. I remembered that my sister and I would step on the moist sand above the swash zone and then look for bubbles when we lifted our feet. At this point, I had walked back to where the first mole crabs had been found so I gave that a try. I saw bubbles and then dug a little bit. I was able to find some very small mole crabs. I took another 1/2 cup sediment sample and counted how many mole crabs where in the area.
      I was surprised that the mole crabs were not in the swash zone because everything I read about them indicated that's where I would find them. I thought about it on the drive home and came to the conclusion that because it was high tide going out, the mole crabs may have decided to just stay burrowed in that spot until high tide came back up to them.
     My sediment samples are drying out at home so I can sieve them and learn what size sediment the mole crabs were digging in. I'm trying to determine if the mole crabs prefer a certain grain size and whether or not beach nourishment, which can bring in different grain size sediments, affects the mole crabs.

Brittnie-Found coral for my project

Over the weekend, I took a trip to Nassau and Freeport, Bahamas.

  During my snorkel excursion in Nassau, I swam to the shore and found a washed up piece of coral.

The scientific name of the coral species I found is Plexaura homomalla, also known as Caribbean Sea Whip or Black Sea Rod Coral. This kind of coral is located in the Caribbean Sea, Gulf of Mexico, Bahamas, and South Florida.

Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Cnidaria
Class:	Anthozoa
Subclass:	Octocorallia
Order:	Alcyonacea
Suborder:	Holaxonia
Family:	Plexauridae
Genus: Species:	Plexaura homomalla

After cutting the coral into multiple pieces (trying to get them to same size as possible), I will have multiple containers of water with different amounts of pH. To make to the water more acidic, I will need to buy an aquarium pharmaceutical product that lowers the pH, like pH down by API.

I will use my caliper to measure the pieces before I put them into the containers, then I was thinking that I will measure the coral pieces once or twice a week for five weeks. Each time I measure the pieces of coral, I will measure each piece in the same spots.

From the results of my experiment, I can determine how acidic the water has to be to dissolve coral, and how fast each amount of pH will dissolve the coral pieces.

Deanna - Project Advancements

Project Advancements:

This week we have had the time to begin assembling our Current Measuring Device (CMD). Yes, we named it. We have had a range of thoughts on how this device should be engineered. As we are putting it together, we are running through our hypothetical process. Theoretically, it should work one of two ways. So, we have designed it to be able to be assembled with the ability to re-arrange the different pieces depending upon whether the device is used from the ground upward or being suspended from the top downward.

The initial frame.

This is how it will look if it floats on the water and the HOBO hangs down. The HOBO will be in the piece at the end of the middle rod.

This would have legs on it if it were to set on the bottom of the river so we can get into the fastest current.

Next, we will go and calibrate the CMD. Hopefully at the Oceanwalk in the lazy river. We have to find a location that we can work with and have a 'controlled' setting. The current meter will tell us the velocity in the lazy river, and based off the angle of our HOBO (accelerometer), we will calibrate the CMD.
So...on to next phase!

We are taking a webinar on the 30th so we can understand how to use the HOBO. This will be our chance to learn and ask questions!

Progress. Ahhhhh...

Project and seining for the future

I have plans to go to West Palm Beach, FL in November and snorkel with Discovery Dive. I am psyched about this because I have been told that the divers with get me a lionfish for my project! Its also a great opportunity to see other organisms such as octopus and seahorses.

Discovery Dive in Port Orange, FL

Octopus at Blue Heron Bridge in West Palm

Seahorse at Blue Heron Bridge in West Palm

 On another note, Friday is going to be awesome! I vaguely remember doing a project in elementary school where we went to Ponce Inlet and learned about seining. It should be very interesting and fun.

More news to come!

Phytoplankton, macroalgae, and sea grass -Seaira

So far this week I am up to my ears in information about the Indian River Lagoon, and surrounding watersheds. I want to better understand what happens during these "super-blooms" of phytoplankton, and how sea grass beds are effected. I have been doing research into the 2011 super-bloom in the Indian River lagoon. This particular bloom had spread quite extensively through the lagoon system, resulting in a 60% decrease in total sea grass bed populations. There is many theories thrown out as to why this bloom has been more significant that ones in the past, and also what could be causing this. As I was going through the 2011 super-bloom investigation plan I found that there are things that are certain as far as possible factors, but not one clear answer. I attribute this to the multitude of factors necessary to create such a dramatic environmental change. I do not wish to go into too much detail but some factors that have been investigated include: dramatic temperature lows in December 2011 causing disruption to the native macro-algae populations, high concentrations of nutrients such as nitrogen, higher water salinity, and decreased water clarity.

I also was looking into using a fluorometer, which is used to determine levels of chlorophyll a. When high levels of chlorophyll are present it also indicates that high levels of other nutrients are present, resulting in algal blooms. Chlorophyll has a fluorescent quality so when hit with a particular wavelength of light it will emit a wavelength of a higher frequency. YSI has designed a fluorometer that can be used in situ, and gives you immediate wavelength frequencies. I thought for my project it might be interesting to compare this data to the nutrient levels. My ideas keep growing and I am feeling a little overwhelmed with information. I want my project to be helpful, relevant, and beneficial to sea grass. Any suggestions would be gladly taken.

Project by Jeffrey

In case your checking in for the first time; Deanna and I are constructing a current measuring device (CMD). The unmanned apparatus is designed to collect tidal current data. We picked up the accelerometer; we picked up pvc. I picked up a six pack. De and I went over our ideas, made some profound decisions based on our beliefs.

I took the revised drawing with dimensions and parts list to the hardware store. This time I remembered to take money and my caliper.






After spending an hour gathering parts and contemplating any oversights, I was on my way home. I spent some time making a pipe jig for the drill press and a stop fence for the miter saw. De assisted while I cut.









We dry fitted all the parts together.

 Next step: persuade Wyndham Ocean Walk to allow us access to the lazy river. We need to test and calibrate our apparatus.  

Angela - Microbeads

In my search for plastic debris, in order to compare FL's east coast content to that of the west coast, I had originally planned on including the following sources: plastic pieces, pellets, and microbeads. However, it turns out that detecting microbeads in a sample requires lots of time and patience, of which, as most of you college students can probably relate, time I do not have.

Attempts made in search of microbeads:

1. I visited our lab with three 2-quart sediment samples and had planned to inspect one scoopula of sediment at a time under a Southern Micro Instrument light microscope. Looking at sand under a microscope is fascinating, however, after a little over an hour and only 12 scoops, which barely made a dent in one of my 2-quart jars, I realized this method was very time consuming, as well as ineffective because it was like looking for a needle in a haystack. 

 

2. Dr. Woodall's husband had the great idea to mix portions of my sample with water in order to get the less dense plastic to separate from the sediment, which worked well with the easily visible pieces I had found in my samples. However, without knowing if my sample contained microbeads, how could I know if this method would work for said beads?

The microbead quest continues:

The next day, I brought three different facial/body scrubs that each contained plastic microbeads to lab in order to create a sample containing microbeads and test method two described above. Confusingly enough, the visible, very colorful, beads in my scrubs kept on sinking to the bottom and mixing with the sediment, turns out those are wax beads! While trying to fish out some of the visible beads with a scoopula, I noticed extremely tiny particles on the scoopula itself, which after examining them under a microscope turned out to be the microbeads.

Smashed wax bead (right)

Microbead (left) vs. wax bead (right)

Based on the time required to find a microbead in a sample of sediment, I've decided to put this source of plastic on the backburner and for the rest of the semester will be focusing on the quantifiable plastic debris I come across at each beach...stay posted for my alarming discoveries at Melbourne and Ft Pierce

Ryan Dail - Project

The past few weeks has seemed like a standstill with my project, but today was a different story. I was finally able to meet up with the fishery biologist from NOAA. We met at a fish market where she interviews the commercial fishermen and then begins the extraction process. She first records the length of the fish, then (if possible) determines the sex of the fish. After she records that information she extracts the otolith (calcified structures in the inner ear that fish use for balance and orientation ) using a chisel, knife, and forceps. Once she has the otoliths, she sends them into the test lab for further inspection. Todays catch at the market was black sea bass and greater amberjack. After showing me a number of extractions she handed me the chisel. After breaking an otolith and loosing one somewhere in the fish, I started to get the hang of it. I never would have thought I would be elbows deep in gills with a 70 pound fish. Needless to say, I learned more than I could have asked for and I had a great time doing it. I look forward to working with her again soon.

Otolith from a Black Sea Bass

Greater Amberjack

 

Lizzy - Tomoka River Lab

This past friday, October 11, the second boat group was able to go out onto the Tomoka River and conduct our lab research. I must say, it was very interesting and I learned a great deal!

I learned how to use each instrument at each of the four stations, as well as how to think about the calculated results gathered. I learned how every detail plays a part and how to relate one piece of data can correlate with another piece.









I was curious to see how the salinity would change as we gathered information starting outward at the mouth of the river and traveling back inland. I predicted the salinity would be higher the further we traveled to the mouth of the river, due to the Tomoka River being freshwater and the water coming in from the Atlantic Ocean and Halifax River being saltwater and brackish.

It was great being able to learn from mistakes and have hand on experience with these instruments in the field.

Jeff's Project Update

Finally, our project will be underway. This weekend we plan on constructing the prototype and testing it. We have to make sure that our unit will stay stationary and upright regardless of the conditions.

The accelerometer (HOBO) should be here by next week.
This particular unit measures acceleration and angular displacement in three axes.
 Based on the tidal flow we will be collecting data from one axis.

Thinking positively, we should be calibrating our instrument by late next week. To calibrate the HOBO we will be using the Hach 950 Flowmeter. We're planning
on correlating the current velocity to the angular displacement data.

Our framework will be constructed from 2 inch polyvinyl chloride (PVC) pipe. We will start with Deanna's design and modify as needed.






                                             

Brittnie-Tomoka Boat Trip

     This past Friday, seven of my classmates and I went on a boat trip conducted by my professor. We stopped at five different sites on the Tomoka River, taking note of the cloud coverage (%), and latitude and longitude, and then collected samples to run tests.

     With the YSI model 85, we measured the amount of dissolved oxygen in the water (mg/L), and the salinity (ppt) and temperature in Celsius of the water. With this instrument, you take a water sample and put the probe of the YSI into the water sample.

     The Anemometer is a small hand-held device that measure the wind speed and air temperature (miles/hour), and the pH meter measures how high or low the pH is.

     To test the clarity of the water we had a Secchi Disk (m), which you slowly drop into the water until you can no longer differentiate between the white and black colors on the disk, and we also used a Turbidimeter to measure the turbidity (NTU).

Using a Secchi Disk 

     Using a Hach model 950 flow meter, we measured the current velocity of the water, by facing it towards the current.

Using a Hach model 950 flow meter

     Lastly, we measured the total dissolved Phosphorous (mg/L) with the Hach DR/890 Colorimeter.

Hach DR/ 890 Colorimeter

Placing a filter on the flask

    

     I figured that since saltwater has a higher pH than freshwater, that as the salinity increased the pH would increase, or become less acidic; and as the salinity decreased the pH would decrease, or become more acidic. And sure enough, the results were just that; as we moved from the fourth site to the third site, the salinity increased and so did the pH, then from the third site to the first site, the salinity decreased and so did the pH.  

The Tomoka River

Ryan Dail - Project

Since NOAA is shutdown at the moment I am going to have to take a new approach to my project. Instead of having a fishery biologist show me how to take out the otoliths of a fish, I am now basing my project on how I can successfully remove the otoliths myself and collect the information they provide. I will have to go out and catch a few different species of fish to compare otolith size and fish lengths. I will be looking to see if there is any correlation between the two.

This video is a quick method on how to remove the otoliths.

(Different size fish may require different techniques)

Grace-Project

I have found a new approach for my lion fish project where I do not have to be SCUBA certified to grab the amazing fish. I just have to have someone get it for me.... I plan on doing a sort of dissection on the lion fish head in order to take out its otoliths and examine them to determine the age of the lionfish in the area as well as have pictures taken of the sizes of lion fish. This will allow me the knowledge of not only the age of the lion fish, but perhaps where they came from whether they escaped from fish tanks in the chaos of hurricanes a few years back or another cause.

 

No spoilers for how I'm going to do it. You will all simply have to wait for the final unveiling of my project. (:

Richard Artificial Reefs

The Japanese are the champions when it comes to building artificial reefs! But here was one that I found interesting................


Constructing an Artificial Reef with Direct Current

A test series in the bay of Tensing Pen (Jamaica) is the largest research lab for artificial reefs.

Jamaica DC Current Project

At present scientists operate on a procedure to let artificial reefs grow by a type electrolysis. A power DC source
connected via long cables are attached at the artificial reef, usually constituting a simple metal lattice construction.
The current causes that calcium-carbonate (lime) separated from the sea water settles on it and laminates the lattice, which
 is immediately followed by a natural settlement of corals.
At the anode, the positive pole oxygen and chlorine are
separated, enriched at the negative pole, the cathode, calcium carbonate and magnesium - a new corral reef can develop.
The current comes in this separated area from solar cells. Coral growth achieved by the new method not only is faster but
result also in more resistant colonies. The corals prosper even with bad water quality, if natural reefs already die.
The most interesting discovery of the scientists was however the effect of weak current on the polyps themselves. They
 current led directly to diseased corals resulted in a quick recovery of already bleached stocks within only few days.
This new technique uses for the first time the almost unlimited occurrence of dissolved minerals in the sea. If one wants to
 deposit these minerals on the metal lattice, one needs only current - for example from solar power.
Meanwhile, also the industry is beginning to show interests for this new method. First industrial applications included the 
 construction of breakwater systems in tropical regions to protect the shorelines, dock areas, and harbor sites.
(info and pictures supplied by Maricela Yip)http://biophysics.sbg.ac.at/ar/reef.htm   Salzburg, Nov 22^nd 1998 Being in the electrical field for 28 years this article sparked my attention. My training  in the trade was that electricity and water was not good partners. But here we are speaking about D.C. current coming from solar panels. Below is an example another type of artificial reef maybe a reef ball or a memorial mount.
                               

Almost every type of scrap or discarded object has been used to construct reefs.

Type	Life time	Recommended
cars and streetcars	» 6 years	No, they are subject to corrosion to debris
wooden materials	< 1-6 years	No, they collapse even sooner from wave surge and destruction by marine borers.
household appliances (stoves, refrigerators and freezers)	» 6 years	Not recommended because they are buoyant and difficult to sink and keep in place
tires, rock, concrete rubble and others	Very durable	Not recommended because they are difficult to keep in place
ships, barges, dry docks, culverts, toilet bowls, trees, bricks prefabricated shelters and artificial seaweed	Varies	Yes