Hannah Vu-Bennett (UR) - Urgent! I need your water!

Hello OCE!

I'm happy to say my IRP is finally coming together! As you know I'm conducting water sample testing through Volusia County to find evidence of potential contaminates. For my project, I plan to test the salinity, pH, nitrate levels, and phosphate in water from different sites around Volusia county. By comparing the required levels of salinity, pH, nitrate, and phosphate in public water systems to the data I collect, I could potentially find indications of contaminated water. For example, elevated levels of salinity could indicate evidence of salt water intrusion caused by coastal development or over pumping of aquifer. An off pH level could potentially indicate an imbalance of chemicals in an area. High levels of nitrate could be caused by leaching and runoff from areas near landfills or agriculture that uses strong pesticides and other chemicals. Some scientific tools I plan on using to collect my data is a refractometer to test the salinity, the Hach HQ11d to test pH,  and the DR/890 Each Colormeter to test for levels of nitrate and phosphate. After I collect my data, I would be able to find a conclusion to my IRP. 

The DR/890 Hach
Colormeter is used to test the
nitrate and phosphate levels.

This is the refractometer. I will be using this to test the salinity of my water samples.

This tool will be used to test the pH levels.

In order to collect my water samples, I would need the help of my fellow classmates! In the very near future, classmate who have well water will be given a water sampling bottle. I would greatly appreciate it if each person would take a water sample from their homes. You are to fill the bottle with water just like you did with the TSS v.s Turbidity lab. By taking your samples throughout Volusia County, it provides more variety to my data. I hope each of you can help me gather my sample! Thank you in the meantime!

Jenna Westfll(UR)- Finally, at last!

So after getting stuck without a topic and trying to narrow down a to of choices, I have finally decided to do "How Rising Sea Levels Effects Sea Turtle Nesting". Now I just have to do a ton of research. If anyone has any tips they would like to share on how to get this project started, please let me know. I am a little weak when it comes to starting an idea but once I got it, I'm on a roll. Have an awesome spring break!

Cynthia UR Living under the magnifying glass

The information began to accumulate, proving a challenging task to identify numerous and diverse individuals and communities we never really see under normal circumstances.  Because of this, it is stepping into another realm. However, cultivating my understanding of these tiny creatures’ will allow an image of the conditions within the sample to reveal itself.   

I wonder if I will discover evidence the differences between developed areas (urbanized) and undeveloped impact the species of plankton found in the region. I can’t imagine these samples will not.

I reached out to The Marine Science Center to begin the process of identification and classification from Mr. Chad Macfie I received some illustrations along with what I believe are genus of a number of  plankton I will find local in this area.

I also reached out to the Florida Oceanographic Society, and

Mrs. Pamela Hopkins, PhD who has directed me to an on-line site by

The National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS), this Cooperative Oxford Laboratory is in an agreement between the Maryland Department of Natural Resources and the National Ocean Service that cooperate in research. Partnering with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). It is a vast resource of information for anyone looking at oceanic research.

To begin I believe knowing a bit about each individual plankton I could find, would help me build an understanding of hierarchy and perhaps a clue to any differences between the sites may indicate.

  

 Pamela Hopkins, PhD                           Mr. Chad Macfie

 Florida Oceanographic Society              The Marine Science Center

 890 N.E. Ocean Blvd Stuart, FL.           100 Lighthouse Dr, Ponce Inlet, FL 

.

Jenna Westfall (UR)- Jellyfish Vs. ghost crabs

Hey guys! So I’ve done lots and lots of research on jellyfish. I found out that Moon jellyfish migrate in huge communities. I could maybe research why they travel in such large groups. I also could search why there is so many washed up on the beach at one point in the year and then the rest of the year you don’t really see any. Or what is it inside of a jellyfish that stings you? Maybe research on all of the types of jellyfish and the locations of them. I’m not sure if any of these are good ideas or not but it’s an idea. I also did some research on ghost crabs. I found out that the males burrow closer to the water than females. If anyone has any advice feel free to help! :)

Michelle (UR) - April Fool's!

April Fool's in March is more unexpected. Similarly, my research project has taken an unexpected twist. After talking to Dr. Woodall, we've decided it is best for me to go back to my original idea (refresh your memory here, here, and here) of creating a filter for microplastics. I have decided to try using alginate for the filter.

Carolina Biological's Alginate Powder

Carolina Biological has the alginate in powder form, and this is what I will be using for my filter. I can't wait to get started.

Karen (UR) They're here !!!

My Lemna minor arrived this week.  They're really tiny, I was surprised how small they actually are.
This is so exciting !! I feel like things are finally starting to move forward.

 

10 plants on a petri dish to show size

  

Right now I have them in culture dishes in the environmental chamber here in the lab at the south campus.  I haven't started anything related to my IRP, just trying to keep the plants alive until we come back from spring break.  This means that I will put them in 2 very large containers with plenty of water and a liquid fertilizer.  There should be enough water in the dishes to cover any evaporation issues as well.  These plants double in mass every 48 hours, so it will be interesting to see how many there are when we come back !  Hopefully, they will be OK until we get back. 
 

Even though you can't see it, doesnt mean it isn't there. UR- Allie

   My scientific question is are local fish species suffering from the impacts of microplastic consumption? And is there any evidence that shows this to be true?

Plastic pollution and marine debris, South Sentinel Island, Bay of Bengal. 

I have been trying to research this topic in hopes to collect previous data involved with fish species in the area and plastic ingestion on a local scale (Daytona Beach). However this study is seemingly hard to come across, as I search and come up with little results for Daytona Beach in particular. In anyway, I still learn a whole lot. In time, I plan on coming up with my own local data to attempt to answer my scientific question. Through my independent research project and my method of studying local fish guts, I am certain to come across some answers.

Crew of hundreds cleaning up Daytona Beach.
Persimmon Hollow Brewing and Outsiders USA will host 10 cleanup events during 2018, pursuing beaches, inland waterways and springs. For more information about getting involved in the volunteer efforts, please visit www.persimmonhollowbrewing.com or www.outsidersusa.com  

   I continue to study the outcome of plastic on the marine environment as a whole, which almost always promises a result of death and mutations. In the 1970's people began to notice the issues of plastic in the seas and make records of plastic ingestion in fish. Since the first era of observations and records, at least 92 species of fish have paid the price.

   Fish are naturally curious creatures and consume most of the detrimental wrath from man made materials that do not naturally breakdown. Among species their eating habits, environment preference, way of life and many other aspects vary.

   In the water, all marine animals depend on each other in their ecosystem- in one way or another. Species are typically very different in terms of survival from their neighbors, but they share the same home and the effects of plastic pollution. Plastic ingestion happens in our seas often by species mistaking trash for food, and/or eating other animals that have also ingested harmful substances.

           Prevalence of ingested plastic particles in fish

Chart from data of % of microplastics from Species of fish in different areas of water. 

Predatory fish recorded for plastic consumption- the bigeye tuna (Thunnus obesus) in the central North Atlantic.

For example, predatory fish can aim for a tasty protein packed meal and end up with a mouth full of plastic. They mistake garbage for means of food.

Filter-feeders recorded herring (Clupea harengus) (left) horse mackerel (Trachurus trachurus) (right) in the North Sea and English Channel.Another example is bottom feeders/ filter feeders whom feed along the bottom of the sea floors. It could be easy for them to accidentally eat tiny particles of improperly disposed plastics as they feed. Small plastic pellets referred to as "Mermaids tears" have spread rapidly across the world's waters. I'm talking some of these pellets had fragmented to tiny little particles thinner than the diameter of one human hair. These super small plastics are introduced at large and since they are not naturally biodegradable, they never truly leave.   

Through my research it has been determined there have not been clear differences in plastic consumption between the pelagic and benthic fishes. Which was something I wondered about in an earlier blog. It's also prevalent that the plastic micro-pollution and relation to toxicity and impact on the oceanic food chain have also yet to be further studied. Clearly, these very important topics need to be looked into and studied. Questions are important, they lead to the answers of the future. One day the right question may later solve the plastic pollution takeover.  

Cited Sources

Plastic ingestion by fish. (n.d.). Retrieved March 02, 2018, from https://www.blastic.eu/knowledge-bank/impacts/plastic-ingestion/fish/

G.BEA EXPORT FISH | Sale of pelagic species – HORSE MACKEREL / Trachurus trachurus. (n.d.). Retrieved March 02, 2018, from http://www.gbea.es/products-gbea-export-fish/horse-mackerel-trachurus-trachurus/

What Do Fish Eat? The Answer Will Leave You Stupefied. (n.d.). Retrieved March 02, 2018, from https://animalsake.com/what-do-fish-eat

Cleaned up the Daytona Beach You Hippies! (n.d.). Retrieved March 02, 2018, from http://www.persimmonhollowbrewing.com/blog/2018/1/17/clean-up-the-daytona-beach-you-hippies

When The Mermaids Cry: The Great Plastic Tide. (n.d.). Retrieved March 02, 2018, from http://plastic-pollution.org/

Augustus (UR) - Radio Silence

So I believe I've kept everyone in the dark long enough. I haven't been as consistent as I'd like to be but before you get the pitchforks hear me out. The time I've been using to switch gears from my previous project to my new one. I've learned a lot about this HOBO data logger in a short period of time and at first it was overwhelming but now I believe it will be a pretty straight forward but a long research project.

So first, what is a HOBO data logger?
Well According to Onset, the company that produces these Magnificent Measuring Machines, A data logger is a compact, battery-powered device equipped with an internal microprocessor, data storage, and one or more sensors, or sensor ports aka it is a compact computer that measures things like Temperature, Water Level, Dissolved oxygen, but for this project this little guy is going to be used to measure water level, specifically along the Volusia county coast. So without further adieu here is the compact calculating computer being held by someone who needs to trim their nails and is obviously photo shopped into some generic stream....

This is the U20L

As for materials other than the logger, I will need to make some type of still which is basically a PVC enclosure to stop the U20L from flying around and getting improper readings, and really the only other thing I need is a computer and a lot of patience. I believe the most difficult part of the project will be launching and retrieving the logger to collect data.

After doing research Dr. Woodall and I just need to find a location suitable to drop the logger, that will include getting permission from a variety of people. This research will take a while to complete so I won't have my presentation ready until the fall most likely, but with the help of Dr. Woodall and her peers at FIU who are also conducting research like this we will be able to get important data to how our coast is experiencing climate change and be able to compare our data with others to possibly extend our data and graphs to all of the eastern coast.

This is what we are trying to protect

If you'd like to read up on why this project is important NOAA has some simple articles about them that I'll link:

The Importance of Monitoring Tides

The New Tide Monitoring Systems

This is going to take time but with the help of Dr. Woodall I'm extremely confident that we will reach our goals and be able to contribute to the study of climate change.

Sources:

Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, US. “NOAA's National Ocean Service.” NOAA's National Ocean Service, 1 June 2013, oceanservice.noaa.gov/.

Onset, Corp. “What Is a Data Logger?” What Is a Data Logger? | Onset Data Loggers, www.onsetcomp.com/what-is-a-data-logger.

And if for some Crazy reason you'd like to read up on this device, clear out your day and do some educational Binge Watching 

Michelle (UR) - New month, new project idea

Originally I was going to attempt to build a filter using alginate, in an effort to remove microplastics from water. While I still believe in this attempt, it was brought to my attention that a filter may have already been created for this purpose. I have not found any information on it yet, but I've decided to move from a filter to other uses for alginate.
As Allie mentioned in an earlier post, plastics take many years to degrade, and they never completely go away. Since alginate is an extract of seaweed, I have decided to attempt to make cups and plates that are truly disposable. I would like to mold them using alginate, and test their ability to hold food/drink compared to plastic, as well as testing for any taste differences. Should this work out, I would like to also simulate a landfill to measure how long it takes for the alginate to break down.
I have high hopes for the potential of this material. My mind has been rattling off different possibilities should this project idea work. Perhaps someone in a later class could continue those?

Alginate: derived from seaweed

 
The Seaweed Site. (n.d.) Alginate production in Ireland. Retrieved from http://www.seaweed.ie/uses_ireland/irishalginateprod.php

Katie UR: Wash Your Hands for 20-30 Seconds. Always.

Bacteria on a Human hand.

Bacteria is defined as microscopic single-celled organisms that thrive in diverse environments. This single celled organism is what my project is thriving off of if you think about it. I m testing for bacteria found in 2 species of sharks. Bacteria can live in soil, the ocean and inside the human gut. Bacteria is all around us, its either something that is helpful or something that is destructive. Bacteria can help with our digestion but can also cause diseases like pneumonia and MRSA. This single-celled organism is what is leading me on this journey and I am excited to share with you guys the methods I will be using during this whole process
                     

Methods

         

Catching the Shark
First we will be using a Big Game Pro Extreme 10 Foot Rod, with 25 pound grade line. The bait that will be used will be caught with a fishing net at the site of where we will be doing the catching at. Once the bait is on and we have caught a shark we will bring it up to the side of the boat and if it is small enough it will be brought onto the boat but if it is to big we will leave it on the side of the boat to conduct the scrapings. If brought onto the boat we will cover its eyes with a wet towel and take the fork length, length, find out the gender and the species of shark.

Getting the Samples
By then the mouth will be dried enough for me to do the samples. I have built a swabbing device (Ill bring it on Friday to show you guys!) that will extend and be able to swab the sharks inside and outside gum so I do not have to stick my hand in its mouth. If brought onto the boat we will cover the sharks eyes with a damp towel and take the fork length, length, find out the sex and then also the species of shark. we will have a bit down piece so we wont have to yank the sharks snout back to take the swab. While getting the sample I will be wearing gloves and so will my grandfather so there is not a chance of cross-contamination. I lock the swab into place in the swabbing device and I will swab the sharks mouths. Once done i will break off the swab into a Santi-bag and then once that is done I will transfer it to the Petri dish and label the bottom of the dish. I;l tap the dish super tight so nothing gets in or out then place it into a cooler with ice packs to keep the bacteria at a good temperature.  

Returning to the lab 

Once the samples for the day have been written down and labeled I will bring the samples to Dr.Woodall and from there we will hopefully have the help of Dr.Horikami who will help us ran the tests on figuring out what bacteria inhabits the sharks mouths.




 

Jenna Westfall (UR)- Suck Like Glue

So I am kind of stuck in a hot mess right now. At first I was interested in doing research on plastics in sea turtles but it turns out that it might not work out which is totally okay. I'm not one to make a big deal out of anything but now I am just concerned that I might not be able to find a topic. If any of you guys have suggestions as to topics I could maybe consider, please let me know! I love marine life, I thought about doing something maybe with jellyfish but I have no idea what. PLEASE HELP!!! Here is a brutal video of a sea turtle with a plastic straw stuck in its nose :(.

Karen (UR) Old MacDonald had a farm >>

And on that farm he had fertilizers and a lot of manure.  Too bad no one taught him a safe and environmentally friendly way to turn that waste back into a way to feed, fertilize and irrigate his farm.

Thanks to Dr. Woodall for the input on my IRP, I now have my question and have revamped my experiment.

First, the question:  Is there a level of N (nitrate) that will kill the duckweed?

Now for the change in my experiment:  I will be using 4 culture dishes, 4/12 inch in diameter with a 250ml capacity.  There will be one control; DI water (150ml) and 3 that will have the same amount of duckweed and 150ml of water.  The control will have no plants and I will count out the duckweed plants for the other 3 so that each dish has the same amount, haven't decided on what that amount will be.  When I receive the plants, then I'll make that decision.  These plants are very small.

I will monitor the water level, nitrate amount and evaporation rates every 48 hours as well.  Adjusting water levels for evaporation and transpiration as needed.

Because of the limited amount of time for my IRP, I am as yet unsure of how much nitrate I will add to the water.  

Lemna minor  The little plant with big possibilities

 

Cynthia UR Nature Bound

Hello readers, my trek continues exploring the unfamiliar domain of the microscopic individuals that inhabit our oceans; they created much of the very land we stand on and to this day effect the carbon cycle as they have for over 500 million years.

My new friends are numerous and each quite unique in complexity in a long evolutionary development.

Relationships like Acantharea living symbiotically with Zooxanthellae; from within sarcodine Acantharea is contained a Zooxanthellae that perform photosynthesis, providing a carbon food source that results in nutrients in return to Microalgae that are not photosynthetic (autotrophs), some are heterotrophic; dinoflagellates eat bacteria, other microalgae, and even their own. Today I’ve chosen a phytoplankton grazer Calanus spp. (calanoid copepods) for the spot light picture. Something tells me these little guys and I will be real close. This picture compliments of a reference guide;

 Kirby, Richard. R. (2011) Ocean Drifters a secret world beneath the waves. Buffalo, NY: Firefly Books U.S.Inc.       

The 'perfect' product- Plastic UR-Allie

Oceanic food chart

   In the modern world we favor expendable and disposable chemically produced materials over reusable ones. In a fast pace world where saving time is of the most importance, we depend heavily on convenience and efficiency. As we blindly develop and mold a world more catered to our wants, we forget about all the other species that we also depend on in our ecosystems.


  Plastics are chemically produced materials that never completely breakdown. They're cheap, overproduced and easily accessible making them the perfect market for consumption. Globally, we rely on these materials for everyday use and in turn we overproduce it in mass quantities to be distributed. In addition- nowadays we are creating thicker, stronger and more durable plastics to accommodate us. We have introduced a substance in abundance into the world that can not be naturally broken down and properly disposed. The plastic trend has become more and more popular amongst individuals all over the world. Studies in 2010 have concluded that there's an estimated 8.8 million tons of plastic waste in our ocean. Unfortunately our oceans are regularly used as a disposal route for the extreme over pollution of plastics. Leaving the sea creatures confused and often tangled up in it. Many species consume large amounts of materials that cannot naturally breakdown forcing the animals digestive system to shut down resulting in deformities and/or death.

It takes plastic about 400 years to break down the toxic chemical waste. Here are some examples of marine life injury from pollution.

If you were wondering how long some of your products take to degrade in water

   For my independent research project I want to focus on the effects of pollution on marine wildlife. I want to particularly spotlight the relationship of species of fish and consumption of plastics in their stomachs. I would like to investigate if the species type and typical habitat (i.e bottom dwellers, pelagic, ect.) influence the probability of plastic ingestion. We know what can result in the consumption of plastic and other non biodegradable products, but I want to try to understand if the type of fish and its remote location in the waters is relevant to consumption. For example, fish species that tend to stay closer to the surface vs. bottom feeders.

  I plan to visit a series of 3 different locations at various times of the day over the course of the semester to scope the area for recently dead fish. Each locations environmental data will be recorded as well as other important measurements. Once I discover the fish I will take photographs, measure and identify the species of fish. My method is to recover the remains of the fish's stomach and further examine the contents. The goal of this collected data is to reveal a correlation between the species and amount of plastics recovered.

   Perhaps people have always revolved their lifestyle around simplification and ease. Plastic is seen by many people as simple and easy. However, plastic is taking a strong toll on the environment and the effects are devastating. Reuse and recycle when you can, a fishes life may depend on it.




Macklin, Malorie. “Is It Really Worth the Convenience? 6 Ways Plastic Is Harming Animals, the Planet and Us.” One Green Planet, 23 Nov. 2017, www.onegreenplanet.org/environment/how-plastic-is-harming-animals-the-planet-and-us/.

Lonne, Torben. “How Ocean Pollution Impacts Marine Life-and All of Us.” MarineSafe, 3 May 2016, www.marinesafe.org/blog/2016/04/18/how-ocean-pollution-impacts-marine-life-and-all-of-us/.

Niki UR--The ins and outs of the Inlet

 After much consideration I've come to the conclusion that the study of sharks in the Indian River Lagoon isn't a feasible project with the amount of time I have to complete it and the resources currently available to me.
Officially moving on to Idea #2 with a lot of help from Dr. Woodall...

Now my focus shall be to collect water samples from the Indian River Lagoon and Halifax Rivers as they feed in and out of the Ponce Inlet to the ocean There will be a total of four water samples, one from the IRL, one from the Halifax (both during ebb tide), and two from the inlet, one at a flood tide and another at an ebb tide. I will then use a several instruments from the marine science lab at DSC to determine salinity, dissolved oxygen, pH, total nitrate and phosphate, and the Total Suspended Solids. Once I have determined each of these for each site, I will then be able to make a lot of comparisons between the IRL and Halifax River, and one of the main goals is to see if one river carries more nutrients than the other. Samples 3 and 4 will be used to track the difference in movement of nutrients in incoming vs outgoing tides.
I'll be using similar canisters and collection methods from our water sample experiment this week, either off shore or
I'm really interested to see what the results will be!

approximations of site locations, labeled 1 - 4

Some of the materials I will be using:
YSI 85 Oxygen Conductivity Salinity Temperature:  used for (you guessed it) dissolved oxygen, salinity and pH
HACH Calorimiter DR /890: used for total nitrates and phosphates
HACH 2100N Turbidmeter: TSS

Jordan (UR) The Feeble Oyster vs the Mighty Microplastic Cont.

     Well, unfortunately I did not get approval to use the maricultured oysters, I will still use the same area, just wild oysters. I am going up there on Sunday to take pictures of the area, however it is basically a little cove west of the river, right near where the inlet dumps into the ocean near St. Augustine.  Its seems I will have to collect ~25 wild oysters from site a in Saint Augustine. Once we have the oysters from there and we examine them using the techniques given to me by Dr. Woodall. From that point we will have to find an area similar to that in our local river, in which I will collect another ~25 oysters and examine them in the lab as well. We will see what happens from there. Oysters might be on the menu the following night.

Cynthia UR Nature Bound

I'm getting to know my new friends the plankton; small creatures key to life as we know it.  
The effects of climate change, on their range and waste water on a balance once kept. 
In the  process of  digging though piles of information to uncover recent information that concerns my location here on the central Florida coast. I recently reached out to "Research-gate" to gather more insight to what I may see in my samples of seawater. I have the opportunity to submit a seawater sample for analysis this coming Thursday and will wade out into shark-bite capitol New Smyrna waters in the morning to get it.  Nervous? well maybe a little.  The fish take their chances and so do I every time I get on the freeway. So, the pace is slow til we get things into place and the reading goes on (forever). 
PS No pic this time.