More on Black Water

Precht, Bill Bprecht at pbsj.com
Thu Mar 21 10:50:20 EST 2002


Dear Coral-List:

More interesting news clips regarding "Black water"
-------------------------------------------------------
Satellite images show 'black water' progression, giving researchers some
clues

Thursday, March 21, 2002   Naples Daily News
http://www.naplesnews.com/02/03/bonita/d756292a.htm

By CATHY ZOLLO, crzollo at naplesnews.com

While researchers around the state continued detective work Wednesday into
what caused the mass of black water in Florida Bay, scientists from the
University of South Florida were putting together a picture of its
progression from satellite data.

Dr. Frank Muller-Karger and Dr. Chuanmin Hu, of the university's remote
sensing laboratory, said the pictures can't tell the whole story, but they
might give clues about the source of the water.

Hu said the black water first appeared on satellite images in mid-December
about 30 to 60 miles north of the Keys. At its peak in early February, it
was larger than Lake Okeechobee but began to diffuse into the surrounding
Gulf of Mexico waters in recent weeks.

Other scientists with the Florida Marine Research Institute in St.
Petersburg and the Mote Marine Laboratory in Sarasota are testing samples of
the water to see if the chemicals, dissolved matter and organisms in it
might point to a source.

Results from those tests should begin coming in today, said Beverly Roberts,
research administrator for the institute.

Fish spotter pilots were the first to discover the black water in January.
Though fishermen didn't find dead fish in its wake, they report an abysmal
season for those waters and unusual behavior in the few fish they did find.

While the images from the private company Orbimage's SeaWiFS and a NASA
satellite show that the water might be coming from the Shark River, not all
the pictures are consistent with that possibility, Muller-Karger said.

In some images, the water appears to be coming from the river, which has its
outlet about 35 miles south of Marco Island. But Hu said the water doesn't
quite behave like river runoff and settles to the bottom as it travels
farther from the source.

"Why, only in the center, do (the particles) appear to sink?" Hu asked.

He said another possible source might be from some kind of underwater
fountain spewing the black water from the seabed.

"That would explain the isolated black water mass," he said.

Hu is also looking at images from past years to see if the black water came
and went before with no one noticing, though he pointed out that fishermen
with decades on the water had never seen the phenomenon.

"The samples will tell more of a story than the satellite images," he said.

Researchers from the Mote Lab and others sent boats to collect the water in
recent days. They found unusually dark water in pockets along the north side
of the 126-mile chain of Keys. Along with a popular tourist spot, the chain
is also home to the delicate coral reef ecosystem in Florida Keys National
Marine Sanctuary.

Scientists have speculated that it could be from an unknown algae or
bacteria bloom or from fresh water somehow reaching the bay.

Field testing of the water by Mote on Tuesday showed that it had normal
salinity and oxygen content.

The normal salinity wouldn't rule out river runoff, said Erich Mueller,
director of Mote's Center for Tropical Research in the Keys. That could've
returned as the water mixed with the gulf.

"(River runoff) sounds right now like the most logical explanation, but it's
certainly not a done deal," Mueller said.
Satellite images show 'black water' progression, giving researchers some
clues

Thursday, March 21, 2002   Naples Daily News
http://www.naplesnews.com/02/03/bonita/d756292a.htm

By CATHY ZOLLO, crzollo at naplesnews.com

While researchers around the state continued detective work Wednesday into
what caused the mass of black water in Florida Bay, scientists from the
University of South Florida were putting together a picture of its
progression from satellite data.

Dr. Frank Muller-Karger and Dr. Chuanmin Hu, of the university's remote
sensing laboratory, said the pictures can't tell the whole story, but they
might give clues about the source of the water.

Hu said the black water first appeared on satellite images in mid-December
about 30 to 60 miles north of the Keys. At its peak in early February, it
was larger than Lake Okeechobee but began to diffuse into the surrounding
Gulf of Mexico waters in recent weeks.

Other scientists with the Florida Marine Research Institute in St.
Petersburg and the Mote Marine Laboratory in Sarasota are testing samples of
the water to see if the chemicals, dissolved matter and organisms in it
might point to a source.

Results from those tests should begin coming in today, said Beverly Roberts,
research administrator for the institute.

Fish spotter pilots were the first to discover the black water in January.
Though fishermen didn't find dead fish in its wake, they report an abysmal
season for those waters and unusual behavior in the few fish they did find.

While the images from the private company Orbimage's SeaWiFS and a NASA
satellite show that the water might be coming from the Shark River, not all
the pictures are consistent with that possibility, Muller-Karger said.

In some images, the water appears to be coming from the river, which has its
outlet about 35 miles south of Marco Island. But Hu said the water doesn't
quite behave like river runoff and settles to the bottom as it travels
farther from the source.

"Why, only in the center, do (the particles) appear to sink?" Hu asked.

He said another possible source might be from some kind of underwater
fountain spewing the black water from the seabed.

"That would explain the isolated black water mass," he said.

Hu is also looking at images from past years to see if the black water came
and went before with no one noticing, though he pointed out that fishermen
with decades on the water had never seen the phenomenon.

"The samples will tell more of a story than the satellite images," he said.

Researchers from the Mote Lab and others sent boats to collect the water in
recent days. They found unusually dark water in pockets along the north side
of the 126-mile chain of Keys. Along with a popular tourist spot, the chain
is also home to the delicate coral reef ecosystem in Florida Keys National
Marine Sanctuary.

Scientists have speculated that it could be from an unknown algae or
bacteria bloom or from fresh water somehow reaching the bay.

Field testing of the water by Mote on Tuesday showed that it had normal
salinity and oxygen content.

The normal salinity wouldn't rule out river runoff, said Erich Mueller,
director of Mote's Center for Tropical Research in the Keys. That could've
returned as the water mixed with the gulf.

"(River runoff) sounds right now like the most logical explanation, but it's
certainly not a done deal," Mueller said.

William F. Precht, P.G.
Ecological Sciences Program Manager
PBS&J
2001 NW 107th Avenue
Miami, FL  33172
305-592-7275
fax:305-594-9574
1-800-597-7275
bprecht at pbsj.com

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