Alex Mercer (UR): Getting My Feet Wet

Hey everyone! 

My name is Alex Mercer. I’m a new member of the Oceanography Lab at Daytona State College. Originally from North Carolina and now here in Florida, I have always been around the water. I’m a Navy veteran who is now pursuing my degree in Ocean Engineering. Since I was a child, I've been fascinated by the ocean and all it has to offer and explore. I got certified as a rescue diver in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. However, I prefer to free dive and spearfish. On the weekends you can always find me at the beach surfing, fishing, or painting marine life with acrylics. Sharks have always been a huge interest of mine and I love diving with them and spending time in their environment, so shark conservation and tracking is something I’m very passionate about. I look forward to all the research and information I will be learning throughout this semester and I know I have a great team behind me to help me out and get my feet wet!

 

Free diving through a cave in Cuba.

Catching a wave at Ponce Inlet.

Swimming with sharks in Belize.

One of my favorite pieces I did in acrylic.

Holly-Noel (UR)- Just Testing the Water

I have always enjoyed going fishing with my family when I was younger, especially if it was salt water fishing. There would be some nights we would catch a variety of marine life, while others we would be lucky if we got a single bite. Now that I am older, I have begun to wonder why this maybe. For the research project I have brainstormed various ideas on how to incorporate this question.

Hammer Head Shark

Dunlawton Ave

Stingray

Dunlawton Ave

2016 Fishing Trip

Dunlawton Ave

 A question I have formed while brainstorming is, does the salinity, temperature, and dissolved oxygen levels of the water effect the abundance of marine life or their sizing?
In order to gather more information I could go to two locations; the Daytona Beach pier and of a bridge on 93 Dunlawton Ave, Port Orange. I would travel to these locations for the same amount of time during various mornings, nights, and afternoons to test the water salinity, temperature, and dissolved oxygen levels. I would like to also go out right after it rains for further testing. With this information I would begin to fish for a set amount of time while noting the various marine life I catch as well as there sizes. 

View of Dunlawton Ave Bridge

Underside of the Daytona Beach Pier

I hypothesis that the pier will have a higher salinity concentration and possibly cooler temperature due to being off the coast versus the more inland and possibly less salinity based and warmer location of the Dunlawton bridge. Also I will be able to collect data from the same types of marine life at both locations. At the Daytona Beach Pier I do have to take in account for noise as well as the guest possibly dropping food from the restaurants near by. At the Dunlawton bridge I will also have to keep in mind noise/ road vibrations from traffic as well as guest possible dropping food from the near by restaurants.

Ame Teaderman (UR) - A New Player has Entered the Match!

Greetings!

My name is Ame Teaderman, and I am a trans guy who is eagerly working towards finishing my Associative Science degree for Environmental Science and Technology in Daytona State College. Coming from a background immersed in science and the arts, I'm always interested in seeing the two connect in my everyday life, especially now that I have a growing fondness for the environment. When I'm not out and about observing nature, studying, or socializing on the rare occasion, I'm playing video games, hence the title. But more importantly, I'm also taking part in recreational writing and art, while using research to fuel my interests further and add weight to my words.

Enjoying the attractions at Disney's Animal Kingdom Theme Park.

Originating in Ohio, I moved down to Florida just before high school, and have travelled to various locations near and far, from the various state parks right here in Florida, to other places like Pennsylvania, Virginia, New York, Washington DC, and Niagra Falls. I've even travelled out of the country a handful of times to visit family for a month out in Ukraine, and the rural, quiet scenery there really seeded my love and curiosity for the life around me. Since then, all of my experiences thus far have only served to fuel my love and various interests in nature, which currently include seabirds and various flora, but also encompass a wide variety of other wildlife, and the conditions they need to survive. It is my hope that this blog, and all of the opportunities I've had here in Daytona State College, will give me the start I need to find my place in the scientific community, and make a difference in whatever way I can. Until then, see you next week!

Jenna Fairchild (UR) - Translating My Love for the Ocean

Hello everyone!

My name is Jenna Jay Fairchild and I would like to introduce myself as a new member of the Oceanography lab at Daytona State College. After completing a year long conservation marketing internship with Costa Del Mar in the last year of my undergraduate degree, I fell in love with conservation and wanted to pursue a marine science graduate degree. In order to apply to a graduate program, I am gaining course credentials and research experience at DSC. 2020 will be a BIG year for me!

Most everything I love to do is centered around the ocean. I am an open-water diver who loves to adventure around Florida springs and caverns (see image below). I am a local surfer at Ponce Inlet who sees surfing as a way to be one with the ocean while riding along with the energy of a wave. I enjoy learning classic rock songs on my guitar and harmonica. And lastly, I find solitude by translating my love for the ocean through artwork of all sorts (see below).

As of right now, I am leaning in the direction of studying artificial reefs alongside Volusia County's Reef Research Dive Team for the Oceanography Lab. I can't wait to learn alongside everyone!

Groovy surfer piece I wood burned and enhanced with acrylics

Diving in The Ballroom at Ginnie Springs

Sincerely,

Jenna Fairchild

Jenna_fairchild@daytonastate.edu

Holly-Noel (UR)--the Beginning of a Tree Huggers Dream!

Hello reader, my name is Holly-Noel Monroe and I am currently enrolled in the Daytona State College Environmental Science and Technology program, while also working towards my Associates and Arts degree in Wild Life and Ecology Conservation. I have always lived in Florida, but I have traveled and experienced many wonderful environmental sites. Like these top two photos for example were taken in New York state parks. As you can see I also really love photographing trees and also taking photos hugging them as an ongoing family joke.

Hugging a tree in New York State Park

Do you remember being a graduating high school student and being asked "What do you want to do career wise?" countless times? You may have had an answer or maybe you did not, like me. I honestly was unsure of what path would suit me, but then one day I realized. Luckily, through volunteer service on a local horse farm I was given the inspiration to persue a higher education in environmental sciences. It has always been a childhood dream of mine to make a difference in the science community and work for a zoo. This research blog here will be that stepping stone to an excellent future career. I look forward to blogging my research further soon!

Andrew Hardwick- (CUR)


Alrighty then, boys and girls. buckle up cause I have two more devises that we can observe for Blue Energy:

First up is the Rotating Mass WEC (Wave Energy Converter): the basic principle is fairly simple. you have a hollow mass with a rounded bottom that has a heavier mass inside it that is attached to a vertical axle. The device is tipped over to and fro by the waves that causes the mass inside to rotate the axle, this rotation is then converted into usable energy. easy peasy. The difficult part is trying to find any amount of useful information about it other than basic concepts. Luckily the Finnish have me somewhat covered on this. Back in 2013, the Finnish company Wello Ltd. deployed such a device in Orkney, Scotland. This device had a maximum output of  300-700Kw and was able to take on waves up to 12 meters (when converted from the European's strange metric ways, that would work out to 39 feet, 4 inches). In the test, it was able to operate in waters as deep as 60 meters. keep in mind that the average water depth around the Florida Peninsula is around 50 meters. As seen on the map below.
With this being a primary model, there is much room for improvement in the second model, which is currently rated for a full Megawatt!





Now the second one is a bit trickier to wrap your head around: the Submerged Pressure Differential WEC. The concept behind this device is that as waves pass by, there is a change in pressure under the water's surface. this change in pressure can be used to drive a submerged mass or two up and down. This mechanical energy can then be converted to usable energy. think of it as a submerged point absorber. But the leading model for this method would be the mWave device developed by Bombora, a company founded in Australia. With this design (which resemble more of an attenuater design), it has the potential to be the most powerful WEC in the world at 1.5Mw. It is also the most well-funded, and the most well developed. Bombora is supposed to deploy their first full-scale model sometime early next year in 2020. It consists of a frame-like structure that is sealed with industrial rubber membranes around an air pocket. As waves pass over it, the pressure from those waves compress the rubber membranes which forces air through a unidirectional  pipe. this air turns a turbine which is directly converted to energy.

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Why did the Witch's baseball team lose?

their bats flew away.

Andrew (UR)--My thoughts on Improving my Project

My thoughts on improving my project would be to "narrow the search" so to speak. There are several ways of harnessing wave energy, the two that I mentioned just so happened to be the the two I could find the most information about at the time. Just as a general introduction to the idea of wave energy. There are different devices for on shore, near shore, and off shore. And there are different devices for each section.

I could focus on one section (on, near, or off shore) and try to find information on two devises in that section. As i am finding information on those devices, I can acquire wave data in those sections.

As I've stated before, we simply can't populate the World's Most Famous Beach with on shore wave technology. So we will have to resort to off or near shore devices. The definition for offshore that I was able to gather was anything more than 9 miles from the shore. This being Florida, the water can be relatively shallow quite a ways out, so we can mostly look at devices for near shore devices.

However, I have already covered two devices that can operate in near shore locales. So I will have to find two more.

For reference, here is my original project in PDF:

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Why do graveyards have fences?
Because people are always dying to get in.

Katie CUR: Welcome back the wonderful Chondrichthyes Class

Hey Guys!

Let me reintroduce myself to all the new people joining us! My name is Katelyn DiGirolomo and I am currently double majoring in Marine Biology and Secondary Biology Education. I am apart of the Fischler Academy and the Dual Admission Program at Nova Southeastern. I am currently doing research at Daytona State College on hopefully devolving some type of antibiotic that will help prevent bacterial infections from happening in shark bite victims. In this post I  am going to present some of the information that I have found from the research I have come across and also the research phases I have to go to through to be able to get to the end goal.

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In early 2017 I came across some research that was done by a Nova Southeastern University Professor. He wanted to do  studies on Blacktip sharks, Carcharhinus limbatus,  on what bacteria was in their mouths and to see which of those possessed  multi-drug resistance. What he found was that 4% of the 19 samples he took where multi-drug resistant to the antibiotics. Nathan R Unger was able to run microbiological tests on the samples that were taken and was able to identify the bacteria that was collected. 

Blacktip Shark

Later on in 2017 I took an Oceanography class where we were told to think of some research to do  for the class. I thought back to the publication from Unger and wanted to build off of that. I wanted to start small and be able to build the project from start to finish with multiply species of sharks.

Here is how the phases of my research are going to work.

Phase 1

Collect usable  samples from various  East Coast sharks.

Phase 2

Run Microbiological tests to determine if the bacteria is Gram Positive or Gram negative

Phase 3

Do API tests to classify the bacteria.

Phase 4 

Find or Develop an antibiotic that works with the multi-resistant bacteria that is produced in sharks mouths

Right now I am in Phase 2 of my research. Isabella Storozkova,lab manager at Daytona State college, has been helping me in running the microbiological tests this week and we are waiting for the final tests to be done to be able to identify f the bacteria is Gram Positive or Gram Negative. Next week I will let you guys know the findings that we got from the plates so far.

Below I am attaching my abstract for this research that I am presenting at AGU this year. If you guys have any questions or are interested in learning more about my project don't hesitate to leave a comment or ask.

Also here is a link with an article on my research for In Motion.

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Introduction

There is a preconceived idea that sharks attack in order to feed. This could be no further from the truth. Over 400 species of sharks inhabit our waters, ranging from the 8-inch dwarf Lantershark to the 40-foot-long Whale Shark (WWF,2018). Out of that 400 species of sharks, 35 Species are known to have attacked humans at least once, and a dozen of them habitually do so. Sharks are carnivorous and eat fish and other larger animals including humans. Between 2001 and 2011 an average of 59% of shark attacks took place in U.S Waters, Florida being one of the top spots for them To happen in (Elert, 2012). The teeth on a shark are not its only weapons they possess. Sharks harbor deadly and even drug-resistant bacteria that can cause extreme damage to the person who was bitten by them. Gram Staining has been a known test that can differentiate two large groups of bacteria based on their different cell wall constituents (Bruckner,2016). This test has been used in previous studies following the bacteria that reside in a sharks mouth.

What is Known

Nathan R. Unger and Colleagues did a study on Isolated Bacteria found in Blacktips (Carcharhinus limbatus)

Majority of shark attacks on Florida beaches occur over on the Atlantic Ocean side in Volusia County (FloridaLife 2009)

Vibrio alginolyticus, Vibrio fluvialis, and Vibrio parahaemolyticus have been found in Great White Sharks that and common to infections in humans     (Burk,1996)

What is Unknown

What bacteria inhabits other shark species mouths

Which of these bacteria are harmful to humans

Scientific Question

Are there variations in the types of bacteria found in the mouth of sharks? What is the classification of  these bacteria?


Work Cited
6.Unger, Nathan R., et al. “Antibiotic Susceptibilities of Bacteria Isolated within the Oral Flora of Florida Blacktip Sharks: Guidance for Empiric Antibiotic Therapy.” PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, Aug. 2014, journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0104577.

Allie (CUR): Home is where the magnetic field is

Loggerhead Turtle 

     Volusia County along with many counties in Florida, host the thousands of sea turtles during nesting season. In particular, the Northwest Atlantic Loggerhead (Caretta caretta) is the most common sea turtle found. According to Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, Loggerhead turtles usually nest along the coast of Florida from May to October. Every two or more years, female turtles come back to their nesting beach to lay an average of 4.1 clutches (approximately 110 eggs) every 14 days. 

     The gender of many species is established by fertilization. However, reptiles such as turtles’ gender is established after fertilization due to temperature-dependent sex determination. This means the temperature of the eggs during embryonic development factors whether the offspring will be male or female. Loggerheads dig a nest with an average depth of 46 cm, when burying their eggs. The temperature and environmental conditions surrounding the nest during this thermosensitive period (TSP) are relevant after the egg is laid, these aspects influence egg clutches in nests and gender of sex. 

Development period of Loggerhead turtle eggs

     It is known that if the developing eggs are incubated at a temperature of less than 28°C the turtle hatchlings will be male. Warmer temperature above 31°C will result in female offspring. Nests of temperatures in between will produce hatchings of both sexes.

     The day the egg is laid to date of hatching is typically 75-80 days. This process involves a thermosensitive period (Day 28-52) occurring within the middle third of incubation, during this period the embryos gender is determined through temperature pulses.

The objective of research started May 2019 by classmate Jessica Jacono and Dr. Woodall is to determine variations in sand texture between New Smyrna Beach and Daytona Beach. This could be used to answer many questions about the impact sand variation has on the incoming Loggerhead turtle population. Six temperature probes were buried approximately the same depth as turtles dig their nests (46cm). Three sites contained sand from New Smyrna Beach and the other three included sand from Canaveral areas. They were left to record temperatures during the time of nesting season. Recently as of Sept 9^th, 2019, they were removed from the sand and we await the results for further observations. Samples of sand from both sites are going to be collected and compared for results of variations. This information could answer the question of how sand variations and the condition of the sand impacts turtles during hurricane season.

***The results of sand sediment will be compared and shared next blog post. 

Turtles return to the same beach to lay their eggs by sensing the individual magnetic field of the beach where they were born.

     The article, “How Do Sea Turtles Find the Exact Beach Where They Were Born?” by Carrie Arnold explains how marine reptiles use Earth’s magnetic field to navigate. Scientists have proven many animals travel the sea by detecting the ‘invisible lines of the magnetic field.’ Author Carrie Arnold compares this ability to how sailors use latitude and longitude when sailing the seas. It is truly fascinating that Loggerhead turtles return to the location they were born to mate and lay eggs of their own.

Learning this information, got me wondering.

How is sand sediment impacted by storms and how does that influence nesting season?

     Loggerhead turtles nesting season heavily depends on environmental conditions such as temperature of the sand/ developing eggs. The coastline of Florida is home to thousands of turtles during nesting season each year. This time aligns with hurricane season, occurring June 1^st to November 30^th. September is the peek of storms, which is also around the end of the nesting season of turtles. It is common that tropical storms such as hurricanes can impact the sand composition along the beach. Therefore, the condition of the sand after powerful storms can greatly affect the outcome of successful hatchings. 

Works Cited:

Arnold, Carrie. “How Do Sea Turtles Find the Exact Beach Where They Were Born?” National Geographic, 16 Jan. 2015, www.nationalgeographic.com/news/2015/1/150115-loggerheads-sea-turtles-navigation-magnetic-field-science/.

Fernandez, Colin. “Sea Turtles Use Earth's Magnetic Field to Navigate Back to Beach.” Daily Mail Online, Associated Newspapers, 12 Apr. 2018, www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-5608545/Sea-turtles-use-Earths-magnetic-field-navigate-beach-hatched.html.

“Loggerhead Nesting in Florida.” Florida Fish And Wildlife Conservation Commission, myfwc.com/research/wildlife/sea-turtles/nesting/loggerhead/.

“Loggerhead Turtle.” WWF, World Wildlife Fund, www.worldwildlife.org/species/loggerhead-turtle.

Here is my project from last semester. If you see anything that can be improved, please feel free to comment.

Jessica (CUR): Let me re-introduce myself...

Me holding juvenile green sea turtle

Hey everyone! My name is Jessica Jacono. I am 36 years old and I absolutely love living in Florida! I grew up in the Adirondack State Park, and a very small town called Westport, in upstate NY. I have had family in Edgewater for decades, and knew this was where I wanted to live. I relocated to the Edgewater/NSB area about 10 years ago.

Four years ago, I decided that it was time for me to get a degree. At first, I was headed the business route. I thought I had the head for it. I was wrong, but I realized it early. I decided I needed to follow my heart. My passion. The Ocean and all it holds has always had my love, but turtles are my passion 💖

Green sea turtle (Chelonia mydas)

I found the Sea Turtle Conservancy, based in Gainesville, and from there I spiraled into research. What do I need to do to work for them in the future? Which elective classes will help me the most? Is there a particular university that has programs designed for exactly what I want? I had all of my questions answered, plus some! They actually put me in touch with Dr. Kate Mansfield! Dr. Mansfield is an associate professor and the lab director for the MTRG, Marine Turtle Research Group, at UCF. 

Taping off the research site in New Smyrna Beach

This has lead me to where I am today! My second semester of Oceanography. Continuing my independent research project (Stay tuned for more details!).

Temperature Logger in sand

Trying to soak up as much knowledge as I can before I continue on my journey forward, hopefully to UCF and getting to work with Dr. Mansfield and then on to the Sea Turtle Conservancy.

Hello,

My name is Andrew Hardwick (CUR). I am taking this class as a continuation from last semester to resume my project of seeing if Daytona Beach can be powered by using wave power. Otherwise known as blue energy. I was able to conclude from my project that using either (or both) the wave attenuator device or the point absorber device that though we may not be able to completely power Daytona Beach, we can still make a hefty dent in many a person's power bills. Especially if we were to incorporate Solar technology as well into the power grid. In my next project I will attempt to include one or more new devices with newer information (if available) on the previous devices, along with including other possible locations for these methods of energy absorption.

Now then, some information about me.

I was born and raised in Volusia County, Florida and have lived here my entire life (if you don't include that one year where me, mom, and dad moved to Virginia Beach for a year when i was five). Despite spending a significant portion of my life either on or near the beach, I have never learned how to surf. I'm sure that I could give it the good old college try, but I am afraid that that particular endeavor will most certainly end with me doing a copious amount of face plants in a myriad of ways onto either the surfboard, the sand, the water, or maybe even a shark that might be passing close by. I am also quite partial to horrible puns, or as they are better known: "Dad Jokes". I shall grace you with an example of one that was passed down from my own father to me:

What did the vampire name his boat?

The Blood Vessel.

I will allow you a moment to pick yourself up from the floor after what I hope was vigorous outburst of laughter.... Now that you have regained your composure, you will be pleased to know that I will attempt to accompany all posts I make to this blog with a joke of (hopefully) equal quality at the end. If you are one of those individuals who are of the persuasion that find these types of jokes to not be  funny (i.e. someone without a sense of humor) then I shall afford you the courtesy of separating the joke with a series of hyphens at the end of the meat of the post.

Another pass time I quite thoroughly enjoy is that of video games. My personal favorite at the moment being a multiplatform (a game that is available for multiple gaming systems) title by the name of Warframe. I prefer to summarize this game to those that have had the misfortune of not hearing about it as such:

You play as a magical robot space ninja IN SPACE that turns out to have been piloted remotely by a Power Ranger-esque child that was exposed to ghastly inter dimensional energies at an early age, thus empowering said child to be able to pilot the afore mentioned magical robot space ninja in the first place.

My summary does not do the game justice. if you have an inclination to consume this particular piece of video game media, I would highly recommend playing on PC. If you do not have in your possesion a PC that meets the requirements to run the game, then I would say that you should play on the PS4 (which is what I use).

I also have a dog. She is a German Shepherd by the name of Marley (I got her at around the same time as the movie "Marley and Me" came out) and she is the goodest girl there ever was. Please feel free to send me your woefully invalid arguments as to why she isn't.

Unless I am forgetting to add anything else, that will be all. I hope you will enjoy my post.

Sincerely,

Andrew S. Hardwick.

CUR Allie- Introduction/ Storming the Beach

My name is Allie femiano, I was born and raised in upstate New York and moved to Daytona Beach shortly after completing High School. I have always had a strong love for science, nature and animals. My favorite place to spend my time is the beach and around the ocean. This past summer I received my associates in environmental science and in the future, I plan on earning my bachelors in marine science. I ultimately would love to work in ocean sciences and make waves to make the world a better, cleaner and safer place. During this semester I am enrolled in OCELAB1001 and am co-author to classmate Jessica Jacono's research on variations of sand composition in areas of Loggerhead turtle nesting. 

A baby loggerhead turtle 

         Let’s talk turtles. 
Nesting season for turtles is from May 1^st to Oct. 31^st and it is not uncommon for you to run into some of these little guys beachside. New Smynra, Flagler and Volusia county beaches host thousands of hatchlings during this season. 




         

        As of early September 2019, Hurricane Dorian affected the southeast coastline of the United States. Including Flagler, Volusia, NSB and many more. In the article, ‘Hurricane Dorian damages Daytona Pier, drowns sea turtle eggs’ author Mark Harper reports the damage done to our local shores and the impact this storm has had on the animals that inhabit these areas. Between Canaveral National Seashore (24 miles) including southern Volusia and northern Brevard counties, 13,000 nests have been recorded and more than half of these nests have successfully hatched eggs prior to Hurricane Dorian. Investigations have estimated around 25% of the remaining 6,000 nests were lost.

Shoreline of Ponce days after Hurricane Dorian

      A nest can be damaged by storm surges that create erosion in the sand and wash eggs out, basically drowning them. When a hatchling makes it to the sea but does not survive the storm it is called a ‘washback.' When visiting the coastline, you should be alert for hatchlings and exposed nests during the aftermath of a storm. Remember, nesting season continues until October 31st- there is still time for turtles to successfully hatch.

Erosion pictured at Ponce Inlet

Fortunately, for Floridians Hurricane Dorian downgraded to a category 2 hurricane and didn’t cause as much damage to the area as previous hurricanes. Nonetheless, the damage was still severe in east coast Florida and now marine animals are suffering. Volusia County community information specialist, Kate Sark states the sand in Ponce Inlet has been affected.  Dorian pivoted north about 100 miles along the southeastern coast, and still managed to cause erosion on the beaches, resulting in thousands of sea turtle eggs to drown. Beth Libert of Volusia Turtle Patrol reports, an estimated 150-200 nests have been lost and with assessments still to be made, they estimate the real number might end up close to 300.

  

This independent research project is based on the readings of six separate temperature probes inserted approximately 18 inches into the sand of New Smyrna and Canaveral areas. The initial objective was to determine variations in sand texture. It is known that the temperature of the sand determines the sex of the turtle hatchling. Does the texture of the sand affect the temperature of the sand? The condition of the sand after a storm correlates to the population of new turtle hatchlings. This can possibly be further explained by examining the recent years of turtle hatchlings and severity of storms hitting within the turtle nesting season. 

Works Cited

Harper, Mark. “Hurricane Dorian Damages Daytona Pier, Drowns Sea Turtle Eggs.” Daytona Beach News-Journal Online, Daytona Beach News-Journal Online, 5 Sept. 2019, www.news-journalonline.com/news/20190905/hurricane-dorian-damages-daytona-pier-drowns-sea-turtle-eggs.

Pulver, Dinah Voyles. “39,000 Turtles Hatch as Volusia-Flagler Sets Records in 2017.” Daytona Beach News-Journal Online, Daytona Beach News-Journal Online, 24 Nov. 2017, www.news-journalonline.com/news/20171122/39000-turtles-hatch-as-volusia-flagler-sets-records-in-2017.

Andrew Hardwick (UR)

Alrighty, so then:

There are several suggested ways to harness wave energy. However, the one we will be focusing on in this post would be the attenuator. More specifically, the Pelamis wave energy converter

These bad boys were already used in Portugal in 2008 about three miles off the coast of Agucadoura. Just using three devices, the farm was able to produce 2.25MW of power. For reference: the average American home uses about 867 kWh a month. However, these machines had to be taken out of operation after four months due to technical issues, and because it was during the economy incident (I wouldn't exactly call it a "crisis" in hindsight) occuring around that time, not many people were willing to pay so much money to have them brought back online. Since November 2014 the IP was owned by Wave Energy Scotland, and after two years of testing and trials, was dismantled. The parts are being recycled and the data collected will help future efforts with harnessing wave energy. However, the P2-002WEC device is still operational and used for testing (currently owned by the European Marine Energy Center).


Fast forward to June 2018: A brand new "sea snake" design from a team in Georgia Tech threw the hydraulics idea out the window and replaced it with a technology called triboelectric nanogenerators (otherwise known as TENGs). This tech could revolutionize any kind of method to energy harnessing in the industry. From what I understand, it is able to utilize any kind of mechanical and/or kinetic energy that comes into contact with a surface that is laced with these nano machines. This tech could increase the amount of energy we are able to harness from smaller and weaker waves. Let alone the amount of energy from the larger and more powerful waves.

Elizabeth (UR) - Let's test the Tomoka River

"How does the water quality vary from the head to the mouth?"

The water moves a lot slower as you move towards the head of the river

This past weekend I went for a boat ride up the Tomoka River to see how far I could make it trying to reach the headwaters. I know that many portions are not passable by boat and probably not even by kayak the further you go but I was up for the adventure. I was able to get go south of Ormond Beach but not by much; probably bordering the city line between Daytona Beach and Ormond Beach.

Elephant ears

As we traveled by boat around the basin the Captain taste tested the water. "Yup, salty." He has fished this river since he was a young boy. He has been on it by boat since about the age of 12. He would travel up river tasting the water and once he didn't taste salt any longer he would cast his line to bass fish. That location is called the "change over" and it truly tastes different than out in the basin. This area is just west of the railroad bridge that parallels US 1. The water becomes fresher and you begin to see the aquatic vegetation change. From mangroves in the mouth to elephant ears, pickerel weed, spider iris'; even the trees change a bit. The cedar trees that were once abundant in and around the mouth of the Tomoka River are taking a hard hit. They are not salt tolerant trees so many if not most are dying or already dead. Move towards the head and cedar and cypress are alive and thriving. There is even a 40+ year old azalea bush on the bank of the river.

Man made island with lots of dead trees

Over the last few decades the areas around and on the Tomoka have changed. Some areas drastically and others showing only some signs of change. From housing developments to bridges to dragline / mosquito ditches there have been many ways this river has changed. My main focus though is to see just how far up the head the salt water reaches. The Tomoka River is a tidal flux river. The tide changes from high to low throughout the day and night. The tide runs about 5 hours difference from the Granada Bridge. 

supergreen lawns = run off

I plan to test the water of the Tomoka River in 5 different locations from the Tomoka Basin inland as far towards the headwaters as I can go. I will check the salinity, pH, turbidity, total suspended solids, oxygen and feces... yes poop! Many houses along the river are still using septic tanks and the waste water from those can and will eventually flow into the river. 

An alligator sunning with a fishing lure stuck in his mouth :(

Stay tuned as we see what is in the Tomoka River water samples.