KILROY IN ACTION

Revolutionary Water Monitoring Deployment in Manatee Pocket
Manatee Pocket, Port St. Lucie, FL - February 18, 2010 | ORCA has deployed a revolutionary water monitoring system in the Manatee Pocket in Florida. The new system can combine sediment toxicity data with water quality and flow data, to create a more complete picture of the relationship between toxic sediments and their impact on the ecosystem. This is a particularly important project because Manatee Pocket is the site of many residential, commercial and tourism properties – all of which are dependent on a healthy marine environment.

Manatee Pocket is currently undergoing a major dredging endeavor to restore the historic navigability of this vital waterway while also improving the environmental health of the Pocket. ORCA’s toxicity data will be valuable in the planning and monitoring phases of the dredging.

Three water-quality monitoring devices, known as Kilroy™, were deployed in the key inlets and outlets of Manatee Pocket. ORCA has also gathered sediment samples in 22 site locations and analyzed them via its Fast Assessment of Sediment Toxicity™ (FAST), which utilizes its broad-spectrum toxicity analysis to identify toxic hot spots within Manatee Pocket.

Kilroy provides water flow and direction measured every hour. Multiple Kilroys deployed in key areas of Manatee Pocket will be used to understand the overall water flow in the Pocket. Of extreme interest and importance to understanding the dynamics of the Pocket is to determine its “refresh rate”, or how long it takes for the entire volume of water in the pocket to flow out and be replaced by water from the tributaries that flow into it.

ORCA has also developed a system or technique that allows for rapid testing and analysis of sediment samples. Sediment toxins remain a significant and unmeasured component of the health of the ecosystem. ORCA’s Fast Assessment of Sediment Toxicity program or FAST is a “canary in a coal mine”. The FAST system assesses relative toxicity of sediment samples using broad-spectrum toxicity tests. In essence, FAST quickly identifies pollution sinks in aquatic environments.

For the first time, ORCA is deploying a Kilroy and the FAST program together. Sediment analysis done alone will identify regions of high toxicity, but will not indicate the dynamics of the pollution. Combining sediment analysis with Kilroy, which uses state-of-the-art sensors to continuously measure an array of water quality parameters, a more complete picture of the relationship between toxins in the sediment and their impact on the ecosystem can be determined. ORCA staff scientist Dr. Beth Falls has led the toxicity analysis.

Kilroys are being deployed in Manatee Pocket to give us information about flow in an attempt to identify the source of the toxins. Currently, there is no information about flow and exchange in Manatee Pocket, so the Kilroys will provide that data as well.

The Kilroy sensor package includes speed, direction, temperature, salinity, depth, turbidity and prevalence of key micro-organisms. As an integrated system, Kilroy can stream that data via cellular signals and web-based interfaces twenty-four hours per day. Kilroy uses 21st century technology to provide instantaneous data, enabling conservation and enforcement managers with the critical information they need to achieve their mission of healthy coastal environments.

The Ocean Research & Conservation Association (ORCA) is dedicated to the study and protection of marine ecosystems and the species they sustain through the development of innovative technologies and science based conservation action. An IRS 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation, ORCA operates from its headquarters at the Duerr Laboratory for Marine Conservation housed within the Indian River State College on the Fort Pierce Inlet and ORCA’s Conservation Technology Center in Port St. Lucie. Learn more about ORCA’s innovative conservation technologies at www.teamorca.org.

OCEAN RESEARCH & CONSERVATION ASSOCIATION, INC.

ORCA is the nation’s first nonprofit marine conservation organization dedicated to developing “in-the-water” technologies that will provide the data resolution required for science-based conservation to succeed. No other marine conservation organization is working to improve marine habitat by focusing on developing technologies and conservation strategies to identify and eliminate problems in the water.