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