[Coral-List] Re: Algal Bloom supplemental -- SE and E FL
Frank Muller-Karger
carib at marine.usf.edu
Wed Aug 6 18:18:20 EDT 2003
Hi Gene:
Thanks. We know :-) . I don't think I had seen reports that state that
the "chlorophyll band" seen in satellite images off the western Florida
shelf "has been attributed to the Piney Point barge" except in this
message you forwarded.
As you know, we have been studying the Mississippi plume and its
dispersal intensively over the past few years, and have published
several papers that document both the content of "chlorophyll" and
absorption of light due to colored dissolved organic matter in the
Mississippi plume, and how this plume is advected to various parts of
the Gulf including out and into the Atlantic Ocean through Florida
Strait (which had been also documented previously by Larry Atkinson, and
George Maul and others).
There is a team of good researchers going through field data collected
in the Piney Point discharge area that will also be compared with
satellite data. Note that I believe that much of the "color" in that
band may actually be due to colored dissolved organic matter (CDOM), and
not so much "chlorophyll". Unfortunately, since this is the "product" we
get from the satellite algorithms, we tend to call it that when we
present it casually - but it does not represent "plant" chlorophyll. It
really just traces the presence of something that absorbs blue light,
like CDOM and this effect may be combined with that of chlorophyll or
even other plant pigments. Occasionally, patches of high chlorophyll are
also found in the Mississippi plume offshore, but the bulk of the plume
itself, away from the delta is likley colored primarily by CDOM.
Cheers,
Frank
Frank
Gene Shinn wrote:
>
> Message: 1
> Date: Tue, 05 Aug 2003 14:24:36 -0400
> From: "Richard Stumpf" <Richard.Stumpf at noaa.gov>
> Subject: [Coral-List] Re: More on the same story
> To: coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
> Message-ID: <3F2FF664.1A837929 at noaa.gov>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
>
> Concerning the plume of water moving down the west Florida shelf:
> Water from the Mississippi River has been carried along the Loop Current
> for the last several months. In early July a new pulse of Mississippi
> River water was pulled into the Loop Current. This produced the
> chlorophyll
> band that has been attributed to the Piney Point barge. The
> chlorophyll band
> starts north of Tampa Bay and originates in the high chlorophyll water
> created in the northern Gulf of Mexico by the outflow of
> the Mississippi and Mobile Rivers.
>
> --
> --rick
> _______________________________________________________________________________
>
> Richard P. Stumpf, Ph.D. phone: 301-713-3028 x173
> NOAA National Ocean Service fax: 301-713-4388
> Center for Coastal Monitoring and Assessment
> 1305 East-West Highway, N/SCI1 rm 9115
> Silver Spring, MD 20910 email:
> richard.stumpf at noaa.gov
> _______________________________________________________________________________
>
>
>
>
> At 8:49 PM -0400 8/5/03, Kovach, Charles wrote:
>
>> Piney Point - clarification.
>>
>> The water being dispersed in the Gulf described in this mailing is
>> highly
>> treated wastewater from the bankrupt Piney Point facility, and is not
>> "hazardous waste water" as described. I would be glad to share further
>> information regarding the chemical make-up of this water, dilution
>> rates,
>> dispersal information, and monitoring results with anyone who desires
>> this
>> information. Part of our monitoring involves tracking of satellite
>> imagery,
>> and the relationship between the dispersal and the Mississippi River
>> plume is
>> being closely followed through a number of mechnisms (including
>> chemical and
>> biological sampling and GOM model nowcast & forcasting).
>>
>> Charles Kovach
>> FDEP-Tampa
>> (813) 744-6100 x329
>>
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Roberts, Bev [mailto:Bev.Roberts at fwc.state.fl.us]
>> Sent: Tue 8/5/2003 8:03 PM
>>
>> Subject: Algal Bloom supplemental -- SE and E FL
>>
>> Hello Everyone (& some of you will receive duplicates - sorry)
>>
>> It's been a long time since I communicated with some of you. Winter
>> gives us
>> a bit of a rest from multiple and diverse phytoplankton events, so
>> red tide
>> and Pyrodinium blooms were our main concerns. However, spring and
>> summer
>> have produced some interesting algal bloom events or issues in which
>> algal
>> blooms have been considered. In recent days, I have encountered a
>> number of
>> references to algal blooms (historical and current) so I suspect a
>> list of
>> current phytoplankton-related topics (at least the ones that I know
>> about)
>> might be helpful.
>>
>> The list includes the topic, a brief description, the most recent
>> contacts of
>> which I'm aware, and a point person (sometimes). The discussion of
>> these
>> topics has led some to remember the 2002 "blackwater" event. At
>> FMRI, Merrie
>> Beth Neely is the point person for inquiries about "blackwater"; she
>> has been
>> following the progress of analyses begun at that time, particularly
>> here and
>> at USF.
>>
>>
>> ON to the CURRENT topics:
>> Gulf of Mexico
>> ** Mississippi River outflow: freshwater flowing across the surface
>> of the
>> Gulf from the Mississippi R. delta to the region of the FL Keys.
>> Previous
>> outflows have been investigated by USF Marine Science; a 2003
>> publication
>> (Wawrik et al; including John Paul and Frank Muller-Karger) about a
>> 1999
>> plume that affected productivity in the Gulf was distributed to the
>> 'blackwater' list today. F. Muller-Karger and Ernst Peebles
>> distributed
>> current info about the on-going plume to the 'blackwater' list today
>> and they
>> pointed out that the Miss. R. plume and the Piney Pt. discharge will be
>> difficult to distinguish; therefore, interpretations and speculations
>> must be
>> tempered by available data.
>>
>> ** Piney Pt discharge: an area >100 miles offshore between Pinellas
>> and
>> Sarasota counties that is being used to dump some hazardous waste
>> water from
>> Tampa Bay. The FL Dept of Environmental Protection is investigating and
>> monitoring the operation, and samples to be examined for the FL red tide
>> microorganism are being collected about every 10 days. Charles
>> Kovach at the
>> Tampa office is the project leader. At FMRI, George Henderson is the
>> point person for relaying details about our participation in the
>> project.
>>
>> ** A FL red tide (Karenia brevis) bloom: on-going since October
>> 2002. The
>> bloom (probably distributed in patches) is floating about between
>> Pinellas
>> and Collier counties (mostly within 40 miles of shore) causing fish
>> kills,
>> respiratory irritation, and discoloration. Status information is
>> provided at
>> www.floridamarine.org. FMRI's contact people are Allison McDonald
>> (E & I)
>> and Harmful Algal Bloom staff (Earnest Truby, Leanne Flewelling, Bill
>> Richardson, and me; Karen Steidinger when she's on-site).
>> ** macroalgae bloom in the Keys: a deep mat is growing on a coral
>> area near
>> Sawyer Key. The alert from the Nature Conservancy of the FL Keys was
>> distributed to many people today. FMRI's coral biologist in the Keys
>> (Jim
>> Kidney) is investigating. I believe that others are too. Until
>> instructed
>> otherwise, I am listing FMRI's contact people as Jennifer Wheaton, Carl
>> Beaver, and Jim Kidney (all staff who are doing or have done
>> research on
>> corals).
>>
>>
>> Indian River system
>> ** runoff due to heavy rainfall -- I have no details but was
>> questioned by
>> a reporter which suggests that it is a topic of interest over there --
>> particularly how the contents of the runoff will affect the estuarine
>> communities.
>>
>> ** fish kills, Pyrodinium blooms, and pufferfish poisoning -- FMRI's
>> contacts are Jan Landsberg and Ann Forstchen (the Aquatic Health group)
>>
>>
>> the Atlantic
>> ** pink discoloration (days) and bioluminesce (nights) along the
>> beach in
>> the Daytona area: almost certainly a phytoplankton bloom and probably a
>> species called Noctiluca which produces bright pink localized patches
>> and
>> splendid nighttime luminescence. This species is not harmful to
>> humans and
>> would only cause marine animal mortalities if the bloom were
>> sufficiently
>> confined so that oxygen was removed from the water. FMRI is working to
>> arrange samples in order to confirm the species involved, but we
>> haven't been
>> successful yet.
>>
>>
>> SO, I hope that we will all continue to inform the group, be specific
>> about
>> which issue is being discussed, objectively examine how or if the events
>> interact, and faithfully document and acknowledge everyone's
>> contributions.
>>
>> Mother Nature continues to enthrall us.
>>
>> Beverly Roberts, Research Administrator
>> 727-896-8626 x-1537
>> bev.roberts at fwc.state.fl.us
>
>
>
--
__________________ FMK __________________
Frank Muller-Karger
Institute for Marine Remote Sensing/IMaRS
College of Marine Science
University of South Florida
140 7th Ave. South
St Petersburg, FL 33701
Phones:
(727) 553-3335 Office
(727) 553-1186 Lab.
(727) 553-1103 FAX
e-mail/www:
<< carib at marine.usf.edu >>
<< http://imars.usf.edu>>
_________________________________________
--
__________________ FMK __________________
Frank Muller-Karger
Institute for Marine Remote Sensing/IMaRS
College of Marine Science
University of South Florida
140 7th Ave. South
St Petersburg, FL 33701
Phones:
(727) 553-3335 Office
(727) 553-1186 Lab.
(727) 553-1103 FAX
e-mail/www:
<< carib at marine.usf.edu >>
<< http://imars.usf.edu>>
_________________________________________
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