The Biscayne Bay Aquatic Preserves (BBAP), with funding from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), launched a pilot sponge propagation study in the Venetian Basin of Northern Biscayne Bay to explore the viability of using sponges to enhance water quality and ecosystem health.
Four students from Yale University, Nico Theunissen, Isabella Chiaravalloti, Mingyu Zhang and Rocco D'Ascanio, recently visited Rookery Bay Research Reserve to study the Fruit Farm Creek mangrove restoration site. Guided by Research Coordinator Nerea Ubierna and Stewardship Coordinator Jared Franklin, the team explored both the land and surrounding waters to better understand how the restored mangroves are functioning.
The Wekiva River Aquatic Preserve (WRAP) participated in Mead Botanical Garden’s annual Duck Derby, an educational, family-oriented event that drew more than 3,000 attendees from across Central Florida. The event featured three duck races along with a wide range of activities designed to engage participants of all ages in outdoor recreation and environmental awareness.
CHAP staff, along with the help from regional coordinating offices Estero Bay AP and Cedar Point Environmental Park, hosted the biannual volunteer training. Known as the Quality Assurance (QA) training, it serves as a refresher for samplers as well as offers time to condition instruments, sample for accuracy from the same waterbody and give program updates.
Guana Tolomato Matanzas Estuarine Research Reserve (GTMNERR) Water Quality Manager Katrin Villinger and Volunteer Coordinator Abby Kuhn hosted Pam Shipley, the winner of Friends of GTM’s “Researcher for a Day” fundraiser prize.
Oklawaha River Aquatic Preserve staff invited the Friends of the Silver Springs State Park’s President out on the Silver and Oklawaha rivers to complete their monthly water quality monitoring. It was a pleasure listening to Barbara teach us about the last of private land ownership along the aquatic preserve and the history of the amusement park ownership and its features over the decades.
Biscayne Bay Aquatic Preserve’s (BBAP) water quality team was able to lend a hand during the federal shutdown to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the University of Miami by taking the Atlantic Oceanographic & Meteorological Lab’s (AOML) water quality team to complete their October sample run.
This week, ANERR research staff were able to complete routine cleaning and maintenance of their 5 water quality monitoring stations. Over time, the PVC tubes that house our water quality monitoring equipment become biofouled from barnacles, oysters, algae, mud, and more. This can alter the conditions within the tube, creating a microcosm that is not representative of the water surrounding it.
DEP Coral Protection & Restoration Program (CPR) and Coral Reef Conservation Program (CRCP) spent two days collecting sediment and water samples in Broward County as part of a DEP CPR-funded project to investigate pollutants in sediment pore water. The DEP dive teams collected over 60 samples across the two days with topside support from NOAA National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS).
The Biscayne Bay Aquatic Preserve (BBAP) water quality team performed station maintenance at the Rickenbacker Basin (BBMRRB) continuous monitoring station located in North Bay, Biscayne Bay near the mouth of the Miami River.