Charlotte Grant, UR, - A Reply to the Questions!

Hello everyone! My research with my barnacles is going awesome. I've identified most of the species that were living on the settling plate and have gotten some awesome results. I had a student, Anna S, comment on one of my old posts with the following questions. A quick definition of a barnacle might help shed some light on what exactly kind of organism we're dealing with here. "Barnacles are encrusters, attaching themselves permanently to a hard substrate."

In regards to question 1

1. Hi Charlotte, I was wondering do any organisms eat barnacles, if so, what kind of organisms? Humans are actually a big predator to the barnacles. For example, the Goose Barnacle is a huge delicacy in Spain and Portugal. Doesn't look very appetizing. As for other predators, there are many fish that will eat the larvae stage of a barnacle. Crabs might also nibble on some barnacles. 

     2. Have you found out any new information about what kind of species grow on the settling plates, if yes, what kind? On the settling plate there were a variety of different colored barnacles. Looking at a brochure for invasive species, I noticed there were similarities to a "Green Mussel". They were first found in Tampa Bay, Florida, in 1999. You can currently find them throughout southeastern U.S. and especially in Indian River Lagoon. 

 

    3. Hello Charlotte, I was wondering, what are barnacle's common habitats like? Thanks! So barnacles like to attach themselves to anything that moves. Basically some examples are whales, boats, crabs, rocks, buoys, and even my little settling plate. Some species are considered parasitic, but they actually don't harm any of the animals they attach themselves to. Some animals might not even notice them. 

Thank you for your questions!!! 

Courtney, UR- Horseshoe Crab Research Update!

First off, I apologize for the delay in answering a few questions, I can only do my HSC surveys every two weeks with either a new moon or a full moon so I wanted to be able to add some updated research progress in order to answer some questions!

As far as my research goes, I have recently been out to three different sites that I will be including in my IRP. The first site, Smyrna Dunes Park (SDP), I have been to three different times with no luck on finding any, not even a dead HSC. My second site, Riverside Dr. (RD) in New Smyrna Beach has given me some luck! This is where I was able to assist in the tagging of the first HSC to be tagged in Volusia County! Since then I have been back two other times where I found 6 pairs the second trip and 8 pairs and two unattached males (UM), meaning the males were found alone and without a female, the third trip. I was also privileged to be able to assist Dr. Jane Brockmann, Biologist and the renown HSC expert, in tagging all 14 female HSC (8 pairs and 6 pairs), pretty cool! My third site, Canaveral National Seashore, also proved to be successful! On my first trip with Annie Morgan we found 6 pairs, and a few UM as well as many dead ones that I will not be including in my IRP data. I defiantly plan to visit this site a few more times! So far I am not finding any relationship between environmental factors and the number of HSC present but that's not necessarily a bad thing, just more data that we are learning about these mysterious creatures!

Measuring the Inter Ocular space

Now to answer some questions!
Is spawning the horseshoe crabs process of laying eggs?
Yes, spawning is the term used for the process in which the female HSC lays her eggs and the male externally fertilizes them.
What is an optic refractometer? How does it work?
An optic refractometer is a device in which you test the salinity content of a water sample, I collect a water sample in the field and bring it back to lab to test the salinity, you do this by putting a drop of water on the plate and looking through the lense in the direction of natural light you can then read the scale in parts per thousand (ppt) to get your salinity reading.
How do the tags work? Are they like some that can be tracked live by gps systems?
The tags place on the HSC have a tag number so when you see this horseshoe crab again you can collect the tag number and record when and where the HSC was sited. This is used by FWC to keep track of population numbers and as well as what genetic population it belongs too. When I assisted in the tagging of the HSC a genetic sample was taken for data records so they can know more about certain populations. There is no way of live tracking HSC with this, it is basically just a numbered tag.

Tagged Female

I'd like to know more about what you used to tag it and how:
To tag the HSC a small hole is put in the shell of the prosoma (head) of the HSC using a sharp pick and a plastic tag is put in place. From what I can see the tag is pretty sturdy and holds well. As mentioned above the tag has numbers on it and is used as a form of identification.
Is it hard for the crabs who do survive the bleeding process to get back into their natural habitat? Do they depend heavily on other shoe crabs, and therefore struggle when removed from that sort of community?
Not much is know as to exactly how much of the population is lost when released after bleeding but we do know that their behavior is much more lethargic after the bleeding process. So to answer the question, yes, it is hard for them to get back into their natural state and it takes them a few day which makes them vulnerable to predators as well as other environmental conditions. Also, No, HSC do not depend on other HSC and survive just fine when taken away, the only time HSC do get together is during spawning but other than that they do not rely on other HSC.




Charlotte Grant, UR, - Let's turn this puppy back around!

    So, for the past couple weeks I've been pondering on what to do my project on. I learned that a drive over to the Marine Discovery Center would take 3 hours round trip. Not something I can do with my spare time, which I have little of! With the help of Dr. Woodall, she helped suggest a project that has to do with my interests: organisms!!! Dr. Woodall owns two buoys that she's deployed in the Halifax Marina waters. These waters are a brackish type of environment which is perfect for all sorts of creatures like barnacles and crabs. Look at that growth for only 9 months!
   

This is one of the buoys!

Settling plate. 10x10cm

    My scientific question will be:
What are the types of species that grows on a settling plate in a brackish water marina over the time of 9 months?

A settling plate is a little 10x10 cm plate that is connected to the bottom of the buoy. It can be seen above left.

Here's a little sneak peak... 

Amanda Adams, IMES UR, Overdue answers to good questions...

1. Hello all. Thank you ladies for your questions. I now have answers: 
2. Angela Boney:  Unless you've already covered this in another post, I'd like to know what these alternative companies use. Also, is there a reason to use pesticides/chemicals/fertilizers on lawns other than it looking nice? There is no reason I can see that is beneficial to using pesticides/chemicals/or fertilizers. I'm a fan of leaving my clippings behind to nourish my grass with the decomposing material instead of bagging them, however, have never seen a neighbor do this. I'm fanatical about letting my clippings work to my advantage by leaving them behind after we mow too; half my neighbors do leave the leaves and clippings but unfortunately there are some baggers here too!
3. Bethany Cobb, Sec. 1: What kind of alternative/natural methods do Go Organic and other similar companies use? What are the results of these methods in comparison to the harsh chemicals?  I finally got to speak to the co-owner of Organic by Design; according to Terry they do a soil test from the client's yard and send it their lab out west. The results come back telling them what the yard is deficient in or has too much of; her husband then makes a custom organic blend of fertilizer specific to their yard. One of our neighbors uses them and their lawn is immaculate with lush green grass and is safe for their dogs to play.  After talking to Terry I felt very confident in their ability to nurture any yard. They are so organic that they are almost off grid at their farm. They use only natural and organic substances, oils and products. She said it does take effort and time on their clients part to understand that some organic methods take time since it is a natural approach. Again, education is key!
4. Bethany, I like that you are curious like I am about organic methods. To add to what I already said, Terry told me that most who come to them either have health issues or have a pet that they don't want in a chemical lawn. She said her husband is the lawn guru whereas she runs the farm, but she did mention that they use cedar oil, other essential oils, and no chemicals.
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   The results are a spectacular and safe yard
   
   
   

   Anna S. Sec. 01: what is a Hach Colorimeter? How does it work?

8. 

   Anna, This is the Hach Colorimeter. Basically, whatever you are testing (e.g.: N, P, Cu) you can set the colorimeter to read. When you place your sample in the colorimeter, it reads the levels and let's you know what your concentrations are in mg/L. It's an awesome machine and has been very helpful to me and other classmates when analyzing water samples.
9. Thanks for all the questions and I look forward to sharing more very soon.
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Todd Singleton U.R. Consequences and Repercussions

Bethany Cobb asks:

Are the main sources of this pollution experiencing any legal backlash for the contamination happening?

-Bethany when I went to The Tomoka Landfill a month ago I spoke to the environmental director of the property and she did not even know that the little creek that runs through their property was the creek that eventually becomes The Tomoka River.  She also denied my access to take any samples on their property.  I have not come across any research as to this landfill ever experiencing any “legal backlash.”  I have only come across appraisal by the West Volusia Beacon as to their tight ship operation.     

BUT CAN THEY?  I am sure that’s what you and I really want to know?  So I contacted Cornell University to get a hold of Dr. Jean Hogarth director of The Cornell Waste Management.    The reason I chose this organization is because they have done copious amounts of research on landfills not to mention they were the major source of my information.  This was my email:

I never got a response to this email only an error message.  So I called Cornell University back to follow up on this matter.  Turns out The Cornell Waste Management, no longer exists!  Bethany I will be in contact with other organizations so that I can answer this question in depth.      

Robin..UR Q & A to Natural based Oyster Mats

Natural Based Oyster Mats
Questions and Answers to concerns

Angela BoneyApril 1, 2015 at 2:51 PM

I've been reading different articles on the "concrete being natural" situation, and some state that some concrete does have chemical additives. Quikrete lists in the ingredients of on of its products "and other ingredients approved for use in concrete". According to the following article "cement has constituents that...have corrosive effects" and thus should be "treated as hazardous materials" (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15068132). This of course pertains to people handling the concrete and may not affect the oysters, but it could be a source of future error to consider since you can't test your product over a long time span. So should someone ask after your next presentation about potential ill effects of concrete, I wouldn't generalize that it is ok cause it is made of natural substances, but address potential issues that you weren't able to test in this short time period.

Angela Boney,

First let me say it was good to see, so I could thank you for taking me to a higher level of matters in my project, second I would like to write some of those things we talked about, so that others who have similar concerns may have some insight.

Concerns of ill effects, yes concrete over long term exposure or skin irritation “can” cause dermatitis which is a skin allergic reaction, it is recommended that glove be worn when mixing the concrete of any kind. It is also recommended to wear gloves when handling the oysters due to splinters which can cause the same skin irritations.

Long term use and Corrosive material: I have not personally been able to deploy my oyster Mats “Yet” because I have to wait for the season of the Oysters to spat, or do their thing, But I have read many articles over the years where they have used recycled concrete from bridges and water mains for a long time on restorations of coral reefs and those all have been positive feed-back.

Sincerely Hope you stay in touch, and thank you again, we will miss you and congratulations on the move.

Robin

What are currently the biggest threats posed to existing oyster beds? What is the biggest obstacle to synthetic oyster beds?

~Bethany Cobb, Sec. 1

Bethany Cobb,

 Very good question, one which I will have to do some digging into of research on this matter to be specific, but for the most part pollution/construction (oil spills) and over fishing or harvesting of oysters are the biggest threats.

Obstacles of Synthetic Oyster Beds: Testing and researching, so I would have to say “time and money”. Oysters  are seasonal as are most cycles of life are and therefore it gives people time to prepare and test the artificial mats, but in the same respect  research on what is actually better or as close to natural as possible takes time too. Trial and error and never giving up!

Robin

Jody ..UR - More answers!

arielnsb13March 29, 2015 at 8:55 PM

Ariel Chivers Section 50 Is the water used to water golf courses recycled? Are there conflicts with wildlife at golf courses?

Anna S. Sec. 01April 19, 2015 at 6:26 PM

What are the negative effects of these chemicals? Do the chemicals harm and/or kill any wildlife that live in or drink the pond water?

Thanks for the Questions Ariel & Anna. 

First Ariel; the answer is some do utilize reclaimed water for irrigation some don't. We at our course do not. The limiting factor to this is land. If the developer has enough land to invest in a full sized golf course then there should be no need to purchase water from a municipality. Plenty should fall as precipitation and the designer should have installed enough water holding capacity to accommodate the irrigation system. We seldom have any mishaps with wildlife other than an occasional fox running after a golf ball, or raccoons in the garbage. 

Anna your question is very broad, what chemicals are you referring too? if you are talking about N & P then you must read some more of my posts because all of them will only begin to answer your question! In short nitrogen and phosphate in excess can and will cause an over stimulation of photosynthetic organisms resulting in eutrophication of a water body which results in a depletion of Oxygen which will not only harm aquatic creatures, but can kill them if it is depleted too much. As far as wildlife that drinks the water. I have not a clue that would be for another whole set of parameters. My research has to do with water chemistry and the effects that has on water quality.

Paul, UR - Answers and a Change

Janice P. Sec. 50. So thinking this through, where are you expecting more invertebrates to attach and why? I would think that being in the current would bring more organisms but the high currents would make it harder to attach? What do you think will happen? Thanks for your answer. Are you going to post any pictures? Colonization

Thank you for the great question. It is not unreasonable to think as you had stated, high current may bring more organisms, yet make it harder for them to attach, though I would have expected to see a higher coverage and diversity in a stronger current than slack water. However through researching this topic, I have learned that current plays quite a vital role in a fouling community. Species such as Leptogorgia virgulata absolutely require current to feed on zooplankton. While higher currents may make it harder for invertebrates to attach, it is required to feed. The Halifax River does not maintain a high current speed. There is a constant flux in low and high tides. However what current there is plays a vital role in filter feeding of these organisms. The organisms that are out in the main current will receive much more water passing through to allow them to adequately feed on microscopic prey to flourish and multiply while those in slack water may not receive adequate water flow.

Unfortunately the last time I went to collect data and see how things were going, I discovered that I would be forced to make a change in my methods of analyzing my data. I arrived to learn that one entire location had the PVC squares removed with the line securing them cut. This was as one would think, quite a bummer to put it lightly. I will now have to use the areas that were scraped originally to adhere these squares for my comparable data. Unfortunately this will affect my data and the results won't be as pretty, though there will be enough to get results. I was pleased to find that there was a significant amount of growth on the squares that remained. Yes, there are pictures that will be posted soon. Thank you again for your question.

Taylor - UR - Updates, Pictures, Questions

Thank you again for the wonderful questions! I have answered them at the bottom of this post. As an update, the octopus was fed the raw food for the first week and would come out of his den about 75% of the way to take his food from a stick. He was not very social at the beginning and would hide most of the time, playing with the toys put into the tank for only a few seconds.. The second week when we introduced the live food, he became much more active. He would come out to search for the live shrimp or crab in the tank and attack. He would then take a long time to digest and then become curious of the tank and other animals such as the slipper lobster and batfish and swim around. Along with this, he would play with the toys longer and grab onto my hand for a few moments, but then let go. The third week we started with the puzzles and the live food. He absolutely loves it. We have a jar that he is learning to open along with a hamster ball (the ball is his favorite, hes already an expert at opening it). He now will play for long periods of time and try to pull me into the tank (literally, he is extremely strong).

Unfortunately, I cannot get any videos to load of the octopus, as soon as they upload to YouTube I will post some (early this week)!  But here are some photos of him playing!

Questions:

Is there anything that would distinguish the gender of an octopus and if so, what are the features?

Yes, the difference between genders is that a male will have less suckers on the third arm to the right on his body. This is because this is where the male organ is to reproduce with the female.

Since an octopus has eight legs, does this increase it's overall strength compared to other sea creatures the same size? If so, what is the comparison. Also, does it have the strength to overpower something larger in size?

Absolutely. Octopus are mainly made up of mainly muscle and tissue, so having eight, strong, muscular legs compared to just two like us, their strength is definitely increases. I couldn't give an exact comparison, but most animals in the ocean don't have legs except for crabs, some fish, turtles, etc. and these aren't particularly "strong" animals even if they have other good adaptations. And yes, since they are so strong, they can overpower larger animals. As stated above, my octopus is strong enough to latch onto me with three or four legs and pull be down with the rest. There are some videos of giant octopus taking on sharks that try to eat them and winning.

Are there behaviorial difference between the sexes of octopus? If your octopus were a female, would it cause different results in stimuli?

As far as regular day to day behavior, feedings and stimuli in and out of the tank, the behavior seems to be the same. The only difference really comes to reproduction when males are looking for females they are very aggressive towards other males and "picky" in the females of their choice. When the females are protecting their eggs, they don't move and are very inactive besides keeping the eggs safe. The males will continue on to find more females to reproduce with until they die.

I just need to know about that head! What's the deal with it? In one picture is seems to be holding carrots while in all others it seems to drag it around. Is there a brain in there or what? And why does it drag it around rather than hold it upright like all other animals?

The head of the octopus or the "mantle" holds all of its organs. Its brains (they have three), stomach, hearts (three as well) intestines, etc are located within. It has a very strong muscle around the outside of it which protects everything inside (I've touched the head of my octopus as he lets me do that now, and it is a lot sturdier than it appears). When he is swimming around the tank, he will push it up against the side of the tank to somewhat hold it up, but since it is so large, it is very hard to hold up even though it is a muscle it still has his organs and everything else inside which make it very heavy. So, it kind of just drags behind them as they swim and rest. Sometimes you can actually watch them pump water in and out when they're digging in the sand and it will increase and decrease in size. I think what you mean by the carrots are the orange things on the sides of his head? Those are where he pumps water in and out of the mantle and over he gills. The tube you see is a siphon where he pumps the water out including waste and shedding.

1. As always, I love all of the questions! Keep them coming!

Jody...UR Answer to (notafan) Dana P.'s Question

Dana P. sec. 50. Just so you know I"m not a fan of golf courses. I think they waste a lot of space and resources. What I want to know is this: they seem to cut the grass often and at different heights. What do they do with all of the grass clippings? Do they recycle them back into the course or what? Not sure if this has anything to do with your ponds but you never know!!
Thanks for the Question Dana, and your part of a large fan club (one I am leaning toward joining) unfortunately I'm making a living there during my academic endeavor.
To answer your question we and most all courses cut there grass very often. Greens once a day, fairways 2 to 3 times a week, and roughs once/week on average. And all but the greens clippings stay where they fall, adding organics back to the soil and hopefully lessening the need for fertilizer (which is expensive). But some of those clippings get picked up and washed into the ponds with heavy rain events adding to the organic material in the water already and yes adding to the nutrient problem.
Good Question!   

Jody,UR...Good Question Jessica T.

Jessica's question on April 6th was.... In oceanography we talked about how muck is now 'mucking' up the coastal waters due to high nutrient input and plankton blooms. Dr. Woodall also said that muck has to sometimes be dredged because it makes the water too shallow for boats. With all of the organic matter being created in your ponds do you ever have to clean out your ponds of the muck? If so what do they do with it?
My short answer is not to my knowledge have we ever had to de-muck our ponds although I'm sure during the 35+ years the ponds have accumulated some inches of muck on the bottom and become more shallow. As I stated in an earlier post our ponds are for aesthetic purposes and not used as navigable waterways. Although in extreme cases the build up of muck in recreational and commercial waterways can become a problem, one such recent case is Lake Apopka. It has taken millions of dollars to clean up that lake from muck created by agricultural runoff, and we continue to allow the same thing to happen to hundreds of other lakes and waterways. But we making a change and learning from are past mistakes.
Muck has been used for many years as a bio-fuel by humans. The English use peat as a fuel to heat their homes. Under the right geologic conditions and a couple of million years and it could possibly become one of our biggest sources of greenhouse gas emissions Coal.

Todd Singleton U.R. answers to blog with water sample results

 

 

 Arielnsb writes: Are oil, gases and chemicals allowed to be dumped in the Tomoka Landfill?

                On the Volusia County’s Tomoka landfill site they impose that “NO! Motor oil may not be dumped.  Please use the non-commercial oil recycling igloo on site.”

They do however indicate that they have a “Household Hazardous Waste facility on site.”  This facility stores gasoline, paints, thinners/ solvents, pool chemicals and related substances.   

 

 Amber C. of Section 50 writes:  What kinds of adverse effects would high levels of these chemicals cause in the Tomoka River?

                Amber in regards to nutrient levels, chemicals that contain nitrogen and or phosphorus can create eutrophication.  Eutrophication is when a waterway becomes so loaded with nutritive compounds that algae and microscopic plant life become so abundant that they will choke up a waterway. 

 

 

Anna S. Sec. of Section 01 writes:

Do any of these chemicals negatively affect any of the animals or plant life in the area that live in the water or drink the water (animals)?

Yes, when the nutrient levels are high thus causing eutrophication.  (see above post for definition)  Plants that live at the bottom of the intercostal river (Tomoka River drains into the intercostal) such as seagrass can suffer because the nutrient levels stimulate algae which can block out the sun to the seagrass.  And when the seagrass suffer it creates an imbalance in this ecosystem. 

                The aquatic life that breathes oxygen underwater can die because the eutrophication uses up all the oxygen in the water.  As far as land animals that drink the water in regards to just phosphate levels because I have identified high levels of this nutrient.   Water-research.net explains:  Phosphates are not toxic to people or animals unless they are present in very high levels. Digestive problems could occur from extremely high levels of phosphate. 

 

On a side note, as far as government standards go unfortunately there is currently no national water quality criterion on total phosphorus and orthophosphate to protect surface waters.    The EPA states that this is “because the effects of phosphorus vary by region and are dependent on physical factors such as the size, hydrology, and depth of rivers and lakes. Nuisance algae growths are not uncommon in rivers and streams below the low reference level (0.1 mg/L) for phosphorus in this indicator, however (Dodds and Welch, 2000), and statistical analyses of water quality data suggest that more appropriate reference levels for total P range from 0.01 to 0.075 mg/L, depending on the ecoregion (U.S. EPA, 2002). Some streams in the lowest category may exceed these recommended water quality criteria.”

My sample levels of Total P were in mg/L: 0.17, 0.03, 0.31, 0.22, 0.16, 0.18, 0.33, 0.30, 0.01.    

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

Taylor - UR - Octopus Enrichment Questions Galore!

I received some wonderful questions last week, so lets start with those!

What does the change in color mean and why is it apart of your measurment? Is that your octopus in the picture? / Do the varying color changes indicate levels of well-being or stimulation? What affects these changes?

Octopus change color depending on their mood and activity level. My octopus will be measured on a 1-3 basis. 1 being white, 2 being spotted/mottled with color and 3 being a dark, purple red. White generally means the octopus is inactive/sleeping or uninterested. Spotted/mottles means that he is somewhat interested and moving around the tank exploring with some interest and dark purple/red means they are highly active and interested. The color can definitely indicate well being. The darker the octopus, the happier and more stimulated he is! Things that can affect these changes are abrupt changes. They are curious animals but as with most animals, quick movements and changes can frighten them and they will turn white. And yes! That is my wonderful octopus! :)

How does he see his food if his eyes are on the side of his head? Could this be a problem inside the tank that he can't see it? What do octopus see?

Although the octopus has eyes on the sides of its head, his pupils are actually faced horizontally. The cool thing is that no matter what position the body of the octopus is in, their eyes will rotate to stay horizontal. Its like if you put a marble in the bottom of a large ball and turn it, the marble always stays at the bottom while the ball rotates. So, even if the octopus is upside-down, they still see right side up!  They also have a very well-developed nervous system so they can recognize objects and can learn behavior. So I can't tell you exactly what they can see, but I can tell you that since I've been working with my octopus so much, he actually recognizes me and knows who I am! :) (Best thing ever.)

What kinds of stimuli and "playtime" would an octopus find in it's natural environment? / How do you play with him? What do you do to get him to move around?

Stimuli really consists of new objects and environmental stimuli that are different from their usual habitat. In the wild, shells and different objects laying on the ocean floor can be used for play. For my experiment, using my hand and colorful toys such as baby toys make them very curious and they will almost always come out to see what is new in their territory. My hand seems to be his favorite!

Why does the octopus not bother the small fish in the same tank? Are common octopi solely crustacean eaters or is he simple not able to catch them to make a meal out of them?

Honestly, I would have to get back to you on this one! I will write it in another post. All I can say is that octopus like crustaceans the most, but will eat fish is they can catch them. We just feed him raw fish, so they are not a priority. But as of tomorrow, the fish in his tank will be taken out because I have actually noticed that the fish have been biting at his eyes and not making him a very happy octopus :(

Do octopuses usually live by themselves or with other octopuses? Would having "friends" (other octopuses) in the tank with him help to lessen his boredom or would it make him mad?

Yes, octopus live by themselves. They are very territorial animals so other than mating, octopus prefer to be alone otherwise they will unfortunately fight to the death.

When you say "live food with puzzle," what do you mean? What type of puzzle/live food will you give him?

When I say "live food with a puzzle" I am referring to putting live food (live shrimp or crabs) in a jar, hamster ball or snorkel tube so that the octopus has to figure out how to open them and retrieve his food. This helps with stimulating/playing with him at the same time as feeding him and working his intelligent brains!

Keep them coming! I love all of the questions I can get!

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Courtney, UR-This Week's Horseshoe Crab Update!

Breeding pair that was found on my recent trip

So far I have been able to assist in two horseshoe crab surveys with the Marine Discovery Center since I have begun my research. Unfortunately both surveys at the Smyrna Beach Dunes site came up empty BUT we did make a pit stop at another site called Riverside Drive in New Smyrna and I was able to find one mating pair of horseshoe crabs (HSC),  YAY! I also was able to assist in tagging the first HSC ever tagged in Volusia County which is pretty cool! I have been taking note of all environmental data such as wind speed, water temperature, air temperature and collecting water samples for salinity testing all of which I plan to use in my IRP. I have also been noting every other environmental condition that comes to mind such as cloud coverage, moon percentage, beach conditions etc. in hopes to get some valuable data! I will be planning to conduct surveys at two other sites as well so I can have plenty of data to compare.



First tagged HSC in Volusia County

Also to answer a few questions;
What do horseshoe crabs eat? Also, do horseshoe crabs have any predators, if so, what are they?
Horseshoe crabs eat a variety of organisms such as small clams, crustaceans, and worms. They will also eat algae as well. As far as predators go, adult HSC have very few predators. Mainly sharks and sea turtles feed on them as well as some birds. If left vulnerable on shore they may become food sources for animals such as raccoons and fox's. Of course humans are a predator as well because we use them for bait to catch eel.
A wide variety of marine life feed on both the eggs and larvae of HSC such as sea turtles, many species of fish, crabs, other crustaceans and 11 different species of migratory shorebirds.

 Any idea why there aren't any giant horseshoe crab farms that would allow the scientist to regularly get small amounts of blood? Are there any other countries that have such a facility?
As far as I can determine from my research there are no horseshoe crab farms in the U.S or rest of the world due to the fact that they are extremely difficult to breed in captivity. Due to that main reason there is no sign of any farms starting up anytime soon. It is unfortunate that this is not possible because it would make a lot more sense if we could farm them.

Amanda, UR. Surfing the EPA

I'd like to open this post with what I've found with some digging:
The EPA  has set up standards on what is an allowable concentration of certain ions and chemicals before toxicity has been reached for freshwater. This site mainly focuses on Cu, not N and P concentrations. Though, I have found the following information on the concentration levels:

Maximum contaminant level (aka MCL) levels are as follows: Cu 1.3 mg/L, Nitrate 10 mg/L, Nitrite 1 mg/L, and P 10 µm/L.

Having stated this I want to now address a couple questions recently posed by Ariel Chivers in sec 50: "Are high levels of Cu harmful to people? or the animals that live in the lakes and ponds?" Though all of these (Cu, N, and P) are considered trace elements and essential to all life forms; they are only needed in minute amounts and toxic levels can be reached and therefore very harmful. Cu for example, in humans can cause problems from gastrointestinal distress to more severe problems like kidney and liver damage. In lab animals, elevated levels can cause cancer, however this was based on one study and hasn't been repeated thankfully.

Marta Fagundo in sec 65 asked: "Why did you specifically chose to look for N, P, and Cu? 
I'm looking for these specifically because I know that several yards that back up to these wonderful waterways do use pesticides, chemicals, and fertilizers! It is therefore plausible that I should find concentrations of any and or all of these in my waters, and unfortunately these waters already exhibit eutrophic conditions (as you can see from the picture to the right). 

This is one of the canals  I'll be going through to get from one sampling site to another.

It is a beautiful park that hosts an abundance of wildlife from minnows and bass to turtles and alligators. We also have brown pelicans and other water fowl that enjoy the waters. 

My hope is that once I have all my data, I can educate my neighbors as to some healthier alternatives to the nasty chemicals they have been using. Knowledge is power! As we educate ourselves, we can educate others. 

This company is reputable and a great alternative to Heron, Massey and the other "bad chemical companies"

Thank you ladies for your questions.