Collecting Water Samples- Seaira

Today I went to two sites in the Indian River Lagoon to collect water samples for analysis in the lab tomorrow. While I did not find any "true" seagrass beds, I did stumble upon a large amount of Widgeon Grass,Ruppia maritima. This species is a seagrass, however it differs because it does not grow well in environments with elevated saline levels.

Widgeon Grass prefers saline levels of less than 25ppt, and is typically found in shallow waters. This particular species is the only species that pollinates with hydrophobic (water-fearing) pollen that floats across the waters surface.

 The locations of my samplings included Parrish Park in Titusville, and Scottsmoor Landing in Mims. I chose these locations because the have access to large open portions of the lagoon. I also wanted compare nutrient levels in these sites with previous ones because they are in close proximity to agricultural, residential, and industrial sites. I am curious to see if my results will show that there could be sources of runoff pollution in the area. 
While I was sampling I also noticed that there was a large amount of white foam at the shoreline and dock area at Scottsmoor Landing.

When I got home I decided to do some research about what the sea foam was exactly, and why there was so much of it in the area. I discovered that sea foam is made up of organic matter including dissolved salts, proteins, and you guessed it dead algae. I read on the NOAA website that sea foam can become thick and copious during times of algae blooms. I found this very interesting, and I wonder if my testing in the lab will support this theory of present algae blooms due to nutrient runoff.

Thoughts on My Presentation - Seaira

I have a little more water sampling to do this week in the lab so I can analyze all my data but I wanted to put up an abstract of what I will be covering in my presentation. I am looking for feedback, is there anything that I should cover that is not listed? All suggestions are welcome.

·         What is seagrass? How is it important to the Indian River Lagoon?

·         What is an algae bloom? How does it affect seagrass, and the lagoon ecosystem?

·         How are dissolved phosphates and nitrates incorporated into an estuary ecosystem? What are the effects when these nutrient levels are imbalanced?

·         How does turbidity and light attenuation in general affect seagrass communities?

·         How do saline levels in an estuary system affect plant growth?

·         What was the purpose of my water sampling, and how did I go about testing? How did I determine the locations of testing? Are there any organizations that do similar testing?

·         How did my sampling results compare to those of “optimum” water conditions, and those during times of severe algae blooms?

·         Blooms in recent years, and effect on the lagoon.

·         What you can do to get involved, and keep updated with current research regarding seagrass health.

A sample graph I made:

Ryan Dail - Project Update

As I have mentioned in my previous posts, the sagittal otolith can provide an accurate age of a fish by the rings (2 rings per year) located at the core of the calcified structure. After looking into how the otoliths are cut to be able to see the rings, I found out there is an otolith sectioning process. In most cases, there is a slow speed saw with 4 thin blades to cut the otolith into 3 sections. For consistency, scientists compare the 3 sections and if consistent they will take one of the sections for further research and store the others as an archive.

As I am now finishing up researching otoliths and what they are used for. I am going to spend the rest of the time we have to look into Florida's coastal fisheries. A fishery is defined as a person raising or harvesting a species or type of fish. Since I am doing this project on if there is a relationship between fish otoliths and  the regulations set for Florida's coastal fisheries, I will be looking at some of the fish commercially caught just off of Florida's coastline.

Deanna - Project Testing

Tomoka River Deployment

Last Friday, we were able to deploy our CMD (Current Measuring Device) in the Tomoka River via the college boat and Dr. Woodall. We learned a lot about how we need to tweak it. Specifically, a way to keep it stable at a good distance from the boat.

The CMD and me.

Doc Woodall and I using the current meter.

Oh, and one other thing we learned: how to turn on the HOBO (accelerometer); however, we didn't learn that until we got home and we had no data because we didn't really have it turned on. Go ahead and laugh. It is funny...now.

Deployment at the Oceanwalk

The Wyndym Oceanwalk was kind enough to grant us access at 7:30 in the morning to use their lazy river so we could conduct a controlled test. This deployment was a success; We now have real data to analyze and it is going to be very tedious. We have about a half hour at one second intervals to go over. So you see, we have a lot of data and we are planning on going out on the river again to try it again.

Jeff re-positioning the CMD.

Dr.Woodall and Jeff at the next location.

Jeff with the CMD and current meter.

Check back to see how our next trip went.

Grace Curtin Project Progress

For my project dealing with fish otoliths, I went fishing with my father on Friday in hopes of catching many fish including a Redfish. It turns out, fishing takes a lot of patience and cooperation with the fish. While fishing by Hammock Dunes Resort, I caught a sciaenops ocellatus, whose common name is Red Drum. The Red Drum is a species of Redfish; however, it was not large enough in length to legally keep. Luckily, my father caught a paralichthys dentatus, whose common name is a summer flounder. 

Neither of us were happy about
his arrival because of his size. However,
he was put back.

Red Drum compared to a hand
(not legal size for keeping)

Flounder
(it was flopping around, sorry for the blurriness)

I am in the process of extracting its otoliths still. I have done the research on how to carry out this task and I will be cutting into the left side under the gill of the flounder. After puncturing through the fish's epidermis and removing the otic capsule and then obtain the flounder's otolith.

I will be fishing this time at the beach in Ormond to hopefully have more of a chance at catching fish during high tide at 4:30am.

MORE TO COME AFTER FISHING....AGAIN!

Calibrating the CMD and project update by Jeffrey

For those of you checking in for the first time; De and I are working on an unmanned instrument that will collect tidal energy data, current 
measuring device (CMD). Based on our data we will determine if tidal energy is a viable alternative and renewable source of electricity.  

The accelerometer ( aka Hobo) fits into the center swing arm; which, after deployed measures the tilt in degrees.

Water current was measured using the Hack 950 Flowmeter.
The flow rate at this location was 0.63 m/s.

We tried a variety of locations; flow rate varied from 0.63 to 0.57 m/s. 








The next step was to bring the Hobo home and download the data...........For this experiment I set the data logger to record ever second. Yes! I have a lot of data for De and I to go through.

Angela - Another Realization

When I was 14 years old, I was fortunate enough to be taken out of the German school system and put into a Department of Defense Dependent School (DoDDS). One of the "disadvantages" to this is that students scatter all over the world after graduation and we don't really have high school reunions. 

Fortunately, through my project, I managed to meet up with one of my old classmates last weekend while searching for plastic on the west coast. I didn't know Reanna very well in high school, but through facebook I've come to learn she is this amazingly versatile person. It also turned out she is a living encyclopedia of life because as we were combing the beach for plastic she kept pointing out the names of different tests and identifying coral. Apparently, she likes to research plants, animals, etc. that she comes across in nature to find out what they are. During our organism identification lab I thought "weeeell, maybe if I get paid well, I could do this", but after witnessing Reanna's interest and vast knowledge I've come to realize, and am a little embarrassed to admit it, that I don't really have any interest in identifying organisms. I prefer asking someone like her than having to do such research....so I don't see being a biologist in my future.

Speaking of identifying organisms, at Naples Beach I thought I came across a bunch of large plastic pieces scattered along the beach, but upon further inspection I believe the "plastic" actually is some type of marine organism:

 

Plastic looking side

Organism looking side

Angela - Cataloging Plastic

After finishing sampling the east coast on my quest for plastic on Florida's beaches, I started cataloging the plastic from one of my 2-quart jars. After further inspection I've decided to classify the fragments based on size (yes, I measure every single piece), color, type (e.g. "bottle cap"), and further divided them into the following three categories: 

"Ocean Plastic"

"Ocean Plastic

- "Ocean Plastic" = any plastic that has spent time out in the water, identified via biogenous material deposits

- "Visitor Plastic" = items along high tide line but have no biogenous material on them, no scratches, and the color has not faded. During my sampling I've noticed people actually setting up camp along the high tide line, thus not everything I found can be considered "ocean plastic".

"Unsure"

- "Unsure" = if someone can come up with a better name I would highly appreciate any suggestions. Pieces in this category are plastic fragments that are scratched up and have been bleached by the sun, but have no biogenous material growing on them. 

 

After dividing the plastic into the three categories I planned to weigh each with a super modern balance I picked up at a thrift shop.  It took about 15 minutes to calibrate the thing and after weighing a test item it had to be calibrated again. I now own a paper weight that looks like a balance. 

 

I decided to invest in an inexpensive portable scale that measures up to 200g within two decimal places. To my surprise, after receiving it in the mail, when they say "portable" they really mean portable. Tomorrow I plan on making a tiny tray out of aluminum foil and hope to finally weigh my plastic. If the aluminum foil tray method doesn't work, I will try to acquire the small white paper bags used by pharmacies, but that may contaminate the ocean plastic samples I had planned to give to NASA, so keeping my fingers crossed that the first method works.