The Wrack: water quality

I am on board the EPA Ocean Survey Vessel BOLD, with the opportunity to do ichthyoplankton (larval fish) monitoring at sea to supplement the nearly weekly ichthyoplankton tows my fellow intern Amanda has been doing this summer at Wells Harbor.  We are interested in comparing the types of larval fish that are present a little way out to sea with those present in the harbor. Darcie Ritch, another summer intern who is working on her master’s degree at Antioch New England, is hoping to use the larval fish data I’m helping to collect on this trip in her masters project. Here is one of the first creatures we caught, a tiny lobster.

The EPA’s OSV BOLD is dedicated to environmental research at sea.  This specific trip goes from Boston to Casco Bay and back, and is focused on collecting water samples to help establish nutrient limits (the maximum quantities of nitrates and phosphates in the water that will still allow healthy animal and plant life and clean water for fishing, kayaking, and other uses) for coastal waters.

To learn more about the OSV BOLD, and to see more photos and some videos of research at sea, check out http://epa.gov/boldkids/!

Today, despite unsettled weather, the second of two training sessions for the Watershed Evaluation Team (WET) was held. WET volunteers monitor pH, temperature, salinity, turbidity, chlorophyll, fecal coliform bacteria, and dissolved oxygen in the coastal watersheds of the Reserve by collecting water samples.

Forty-one Gorham Middle School sixth grade students traveled to the Reserve today to take part in water quality monitoring with their teachers and five Reserve docents. The students divided into groups then participated in hands-on activities to learn about fecal coliform, dissolved oxygen, turbidity, pH, and salinity in the water.