03-04 Research Projects | Marine Science Experience Home Page | BioWeb Home Page
| School/Teacher: Sherman Oaks Center for Enriched Studies, Los Angeles USD/Mr. Scott Sperber |
| Class: QuikScience Team |
| Project Title: Can the General Health of the Ocean be Assessed by the Abundance of Two Common Fish? |
| Abstract: Accessing
the Occidental College TOPS/MSE web page, our team recorded the
temperature and salinity levels on days in which there were also otter
trawls performed at the Harbor trawl site, latitude 33.43 —longitude
118.13. The physical data was recorded from the Seabird. Trawls were all
performed at 6 meters as well as data recorded. Results were recorded and graphed and compared with the number of California halibut and white croaker, two common fish in the LA Harbor area, and assessed as to if the health of the water is relative to fish numbers. Data was gathered from the RV Vantuna of Occidental College and its Seabird data collector. These data points were recorded while aboard the RV Vantuna by student research groups collating various sets of data for numerous projects. After reviewing the graphs, our team noticed that there was no significant relationship between temperature and salinity levels with the numbers of fish. One anomaly did show though, on the one day when there was a spike in salinity, there was a significant rise in white croaker population. Temperature was selected as a key variable for life because it is such a key to the amount of dissolved oxygen in the ocean which is essential for life. Since all data was taken from the photic zone, temperature seemed to be the most likely variable, along with salinity, to record. |
03-04 Research Projects | Marine Science Experience Home Page | BioWeb Home Page