A long-lasting, successful relationship between scientists at the MBL Ecosystems Center and the citizen-led Buzzards Bay Coalition has garnered a long-term record of water quality in the busy bay that lies west of Woods Hole. That record has already returned tremendous value and last week, it was published in Scientific Data, a Nature journal.
“We hope getting this data out will encourage scientists to use it to test new hypotheses and develop new insights into Bay health,” said Rachel Jakuba, science director of the Buzzards Bay Coalition and lead author of the journal article.
Since 1992, a large team of citizen volunteers, dubbed Baywatchers, has been collecting water samples from more than 200 sites along the coast of Buzzards Bay. The samples have been analyzed at the Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL) since 2008 under the direction of Chris Neill, Senior Scientist at Woodwell Climate Research Center, and MBL Senior Research Assistant Richard McHorney.
The goal is to document the effects of nitrogen pollution in the Bay, including low oxygen levels that threaten marine life, in order to inform policies to improve Bay health.
Read more at Marine Biological Laboratory
Image: Aerial view of The Knob and Quissett Harbor in Woods Hole, Mass., with greater Buzzards Bay in the distance. Buzzards Bay is approximately 28 miles long by 8 miles wide and is a popular destination for fishing, boating, and tourism. (Credit: Fish Hawk Films)