Water quality is a big fish to fry
- November 4, 2014
- / Staff Reports
- / education
What happens when a team of students gets together to fry pounds of mullet?
Fish get eaten, money is raised and research is done on area waterways.
In an effort to raise money and awareness about water quality, students and teachers from four Escambia Marine Science Education programs teamed up to fry hundreds of pounds of mullet and to educate the community.
Students from Booker T. Washington, West Florida, Escambia and Pensacola high schools worked together to collect water samples in ongoing water projects.
The fish fry raised about $4,000 to help the Bayou project.
By including the students and their project presentations, the fish fry was also an opportunity to raise awareness about water quality.
One of the projects, Bringing Back the Bayous, involved students from area high schools collecting water samples from Bayou Texar, Bayou Chico, Bayou Grande and Perdido Bay.
The samples were taken to Washington High School, where biology and chemistry students measured the levels of chlorophyll and other nutrients in the waters.
“When these levels get too high, the water ways experience algal blooms that kill fish and damage local ecosystems,” said Allie Fuller, a Booker T. Washington High School senior and president of the school’s Marine Science Academy.
Fuller and her classmates have collected water samples, planted sea grass, replenished the shorelines, and collected sea life in seine nets. They have learned how to properly test the water’s quality and how to report numbers of local species in diversity studies.
Fuller was a pioneer in Washington High’s program and she believes Pensacola needs more scientists so they can educate the public about the causes of local water pollution and how to avoid making things worse.
Kevin Turner, a marine science teacher at Booker T. Washington High School, says his wish is to teach his students how they can help clean up local waterways.
“All of the schools send their samples to us for testing,” Turner said. “The reagents we need for the testing process are expensive. That’s why we decided to hold this fish fry, to raise money.”
For Madison Meyer, an Escambia High School junior, Saturday’s event was a chance to tell more people about the Turtle T.H.I.S. (Teens Helping In the Seashore) project and to remain people to remember the negative effect bright lights can have along the coast for sea turtles.
“People who live by the water need to shade their lights so the light can go where they need it, but not go where it’s not needed, because it affects turtles,” Meyer said. “If you need to use a flashlight, you should always use a red light.”
Meyer’s involvement in this project has also introduced her to a possible future employer, the National Parks. “I want to go into Marine Biology and I plan to work for the park service, because you can go anywhere.”
Last spring, West Florida High School students collected tar patties from local beaches as part of Project G.O.O. (Gulf Oil Observers). The students learned the proper protocol for collecting the tar samples and then sent 40 patties to the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute to have them analyzed.
“Twenty six of our samples had the same composition as the tar from the BP Deep Water Horizon oil spill. This is important to know, because it tells us we still have a lot of oil out there from the spill,” said Jennifer Sublett, a junior at West Florida. “If you learn the right way to help, you can collect samples and help someone with their research.”
Fuller and her classmates have collected water samples, planted sea grass, replenished the shorelines, and collected sea life in seine nets. They have learned how to properly test the water’s quality and how to report numbers of local species in diversity studies.
Fuller was a pioneer in Washington High’s program and she believes Pensacola needs more scientists so they can educate the public about the causes of local water pollution and how to avoid making things worse.
Kevin Turner, a marine science teacher at Booker T. Washington High School, says his wish is to teach his students how they can help clean up local waterways.
“All of the schools send their samples to us for testing,” Turner said. “The reagents we need for the testing process are expensive. That’s why we decided to hold this fish fry, to raise money.”
For Madison Meyer, an Escambia High School junior, Saturday’s event was a chance to tell more people about the Turtle T.H.I.S. (Teens Helping In the Seashore) project and to remain people to remember the negative effect bright lights can have along the coast for sea turtles.
“People who live by the water need to shade their lights so the light can go where they need it, but not go where it’s not needed, because it affects turtles,” Meyer said. “If you need to use a flashlight, you should always use a red light.”
Meyer’s involvement in this project has also introduced her to a possible future employer, the National Parks. “I want to go into Marine Biology and I plan to work for the park service, because you can go anywhere.”
Last spring, West Florida High School students collected tar patties from local beaches as part of Project G.O.O. (Gulf Oil Observers). The students learned the proper protocol for collecting the tar samples and then sent 40 patties to the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute to have them analyzed.
“Twenty six of our samples had the same composition as the tar from the BP Deep Water Horizon oil spill. This is important to know, because it tells us we still have a lot of oil out there from the spill,” said Jennifer Sublett, a junior at West Florida. “If you learn the right way to help, you can collect samples and help someone with their research.”
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