[Coral-List] RE: Algal Bloom supplemental -- SE and E FL
Kovach, Charles
Charles.Kovach at dep.state.fl.us
Thu Aug 7 10:41:14 EDT 2003
FDEP is making arrangement to have water samples collected inside and outside
of the Mississippi River Plume (as defined through satellite imagery) and has
collected samples immediately south of the dispersal area. The results of
the HAB counts for the samples south of the dispersal area are available
through FMRI's red tide website (no HABs present; most recent samples July
29), additional analyses are being performed and will be reported through the
web. Two drifter buoys (Argo tracked) were deployed on July 29 and 30th, the
position and path data are in the first Piney Point Report of satellite
imagery interpretation available at http://imars.marine.usf.edu/ updates will
be posted to the web. The latest position of the buoy travelling around
south Florida is: 2003-08-07 11:50:10 (GMT) lat. 24.496, long. 279.369.
Charles Kovach
Environmental Manager
Watershed and Resource Management
Florida Department of Environmental Protection
Tampa FL 33619-1352 USA
phone (813) 744-6100 x329
SC 412-1042 x329
fax (813) 740-3906
SC 514-1799
charles.kovach at dep.state.fl.us <mailto:charles.kovach at dep.state.fl.us>
-----Original Message-----
From: Mitchell A. Roffer, Ph.D. [mailto:roffers at bellsouth.net]
Sent: Thursday, August 07, 2003 9:49 AM
To: carib at marine.usf.edu
Cc: hu at marine.usf.edu; Kovach, Charles; Coral-List at coral.aoml.noaa.gov;
Roberts, Bev; Gene Shinn; George Maul
Subject: Re: Algal Bloom supplemental -- SE and E FL
Re: Algal bloom supplemental:
Without intensive sampling in and out of the water and south of the
dispersal site, one will never know what the components of the
elevated radiance are. We believe that the water was seen Tuesday
off of Sebastian Inlet (27°30'N Lat) along the east coast of Florida.
I had previously responded to Stumpf:
"Richard:
The Mississippi River water passed through the DEP/EPA dispersal area
and produced the dominant signal in the MODIS imagery. However, east
of the Mississippi River water (see enclosed image from Friday) there
are areas where the chlorophyll +CDOM readings are elevated that
appear to be unrelated to the Mississippi River water. One of the
reasons we wanted DEP, EPA, and NOAA to put surface drifting buoys in
the Piney Point water was to be able to track and hopefully
differentiate the different water masses. Do you have access to
surface drifting buoys that we may use to do this?"
Mitchell A. Roffer
"Independent Scientist"
Piney Point Wastwater Dispersal Project
>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>>
>_________________________________________
--
Safe and Successful Fishing,
Mitchell A. Roffer, Ph.D.
President
>=<((((º>`·.¸¸.·´¯`·.¸.·´¯`·...¸>-=((((:>¸·´¯`·.¸,..·´¯`·..>-<((((º>-
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2871 Southwest 69th Court, Miami, Florida 33155 USA
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