On Jan 27 we went to do our
second sampling. We had many different tools that we haven’t used before like
this underwater rover.
Meet our rover!
It was a rover we built 2 years
ago to use on our past water sampling fieldwork. Two students were operating
it. They attached a flip camera on it in a secure underwater case and lowered
it into the water.
Troubleshooting
There are three motors on the rover.
It can go up /down, forward, and turn. However it was not a smooth ride in the
water because there was too much wave action pushing the robot upward. As a
result of the turbulent waters, the battery holder clamp broke off, and we were not able to continue. It was fun while it lasted though! and no, we didn't get any video...
There were also many different
animals we didn’t see on the last trip . We saw red breasted blackbirds and a
lot of baby ducklings at site 1. We also found many animal prints. Some belonged to raccoons others are
yet to be identified. Brown pelicans were spotted there too, which is unusual
because they’re usually found farther down on the coast.
Sadly, we also saw some dead
organisms in all of the sites At site one there was a dead pelican we found by
the water’s edge. We have no idea what killed it or by what means but we told
the a forest ranger who happened by immediately. We did not touch or move the
pelican!
At the second and third site, we
had seen jellyfish washed up on the shore. At the second site, many very small
clear (about the size of a quarter) jellyfish were washed up between the docks.
The third site had only one much larger white jellyfish. It had looked like its
tentacles were severed and its head was bashed open. These occurrences were a
surprise since we didn’t see anything like this the last time we tested.
This jelly was about 10" long without the tentacles.
We
think the recent rains we finally got has brought the animal life back to the
bay. Water level seemed higher than the first time (remember we’ve been in an
awful drought in Texas since January 2011!) We’ve had some good rains since
late Nov, but we have a ways to go before we are out of the drought. Around this same time, we've had a Red Tide all along the Gulf Coast. Since we don't have as much fresh water running into the bay and gulf, salinity levels are higher- just what toxic algae like Karenia Brevis like!!
Not surprising, we didn’t see any
people, this time out, well except for us. There was no sign of fishermen or
tourists except for a couple of people beachcombing..
Now, about the sampling.
The first time we did the tests we were all nervous because
we had never done the testing before, but the second time around we all agreed
we were more confident about doing the tests.
Portable lab at Bolivar Peninsula
The water level at the first site
was much higher than the last time we went. In September the water level was so
low that we were actually able to walk on the ground where the water SHOULD be!
The first site was at the Anahuac
Trinity River recreation area. The water was muddy and it was brown (high
turbidity!).
See how brown the water is here??? (rover is trying to go down!)
At the second site at Smith Point the water was green. The third
site on the Bolivar Peninsula at the beach had a lot of foam but the color
seemed a darker brown than in the fall (more runoff?). At all three sites it
was very windy. The temperature was not very low, but the wind made it colder.
Again we had clear skies.
Renee had a face full of hair thanks to the wind!
Angela Larsen is on the left in the pink jacket.
After all SMORE students had
sampled, we held another teleconference with Alaska and Georgia to compare our
data. This is always really cool
talking to each other and sharing fun stuff along with the science! Check out the video in the video section of this blog!
We only have one more sampling to
do! Can we really be almost done? Time has gone by too fast.
Overall, this winter fieldwork was
a very pleasurable experience for all of us. We learned more, tested correctly
and had fun. Everyone agreed that we thought we did a much better job this
time!
Hope to see you again soon!!