MONITORING & MAPPING WATER QUALITY

Monitoring conditions in the Lagoon is equivalent to what doctors do for patients.

They use the information that they get from their monitors in order to determine what is wrong with a patient and to be sure that whatever they are doing is making the patient better and not worse.

ORCA’s goal is to provide the information that is needed to determine what aspects of the Lagoon have become unhealthy and what we can best do to put things back in balance.

Kilroy Network
ORCA’s innovative Kilroy network lets scientists, as well as community members, monitor an extensive array of water quality data in real time in order to identify and remedy pollution sources. See the Kilroy Live Feed. See the Kilroy Systems Deployment.

Ecotoxicity Program
ORCA’s Ecotoxicity Program is a “canary in a coal mine” approach to assessing the health of a marine ecosystem. We complete dense sampling protocols and test sediment samples for a wide array of easily measured toxicity and nutrient parameters. The results are then mapped to show pollution hot-spots which are then monitored by the Kilroy Network to identify pollution sources. Learn more.

Explore Pollution Maps

Northern Indian River Lagoon

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Biscayne Bay

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Ohio Project

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Sentinel Program
By sampling bivalves (oysters, clams, mussels, etc.) located in the Indian River Lagoon, ORCA researchers are able to monitor water contaminants such as a variety of toxic organic compounds and heavy metals. Learn more.

Making Pollution Visible