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Buoy vs. Kettle Cove Data
1. Chelsea Pettengill likes to eat seaweed. She swims with the dolphins and lives in a kayak in Kettle Cove. On May 23rd, Chelsea went for a kayaking trip with her best friend Emily who lives in a normal home. While kayaking, they decided to take some measurements of where Chelsea lives. Using the thermometer Chelsea uses to battle the invasive green crab species, they reached the conclusion that the water temperature at the surface was 10 degrees Celsius. The GoMOOS buoy sitting on the site along the Casco Bay waters, however, was recorded as being a little over 9 degrees Celsius for the same date and time. We believe that although these measurements were very close, the slight difference could be accounted for. While sitting in Chelsea’s kayak, we were only able to get the temperature at the very tip of the surface, while the buoy calculated the temperature one meter down, one meter away from the sun. We then continued with our studies by measuring the salinity of the water, which affects those who live there with Chelsea. Conveniently, Chelsea’s favorite drinking cup at home is her Deep-Six. By dunking this in the water, we were able to get a number value of the amount of salt, which came out to be twenty-eight parts per thousand. Just to double check our salinity data, we took a second measurement using a refractometer that Chelsea created out of a washed-up pair of binoculars. We felt reassured when Chelsea took a reading of 24 parts per thousand, which agreed with our original number. We again compared this set of data with the GoMOOS buoy, which had recorded a steady measurement of 30.6 for the whole day. These slight differences, again, could be explained by a higher salinity level deeper in the water, where the buoy collected at one meter and we collected at the extreme surface.
2. Buoy Data - 11:00 AM, 5/23/06
Location Water Temperature (Celsius) Salinity (0/00)
Kettle Cove 10 degrees 26.0
Massachusetts Bay 8.8 degrees 29.0
Scotian Bay 6.3 degrees 31.52
Penobscot 10.8 degrees 24.08
Eastern Maine Shelf 7.8 degrees 31.55
The much lower degrees of temperature in the Eastern Maine Shelf and the Scotian Bay can probably be accounted for being much colder than Kettle Cove since they are farther up north, closer to the pole. The northern areas have higher salinity levels than those farther down the coast. This data could be related to the amount of rain.
3. The physical factors of an organism’s habitat definitely influence them. The temperature of the water is related to the amount of sunlight, explaining why the surface has a higher temperature than at depth. Therefore, marine organisms who photosynthesize would probably thrive better in the warmer areas of the water where there is more sunlight. The temperature also really influences the inner workings of marine organisms, since many of them are cold-blooded, and their inner temperatures are constantly the same as their surroundings. The salinity of the water is also important to marine life since many of the ocean’s inhabitants, aside from mammals, breathe by obtaining oxygen from the water. Too much or too little salt in the water could have a negative impact on the inner workings of organisms. Also, animals who rely on buoyancy for movement and survival depend upon the salt in the water to keep them afloat in the water column.
1. Chelsea Pettengill likes to eat seaweed. She swims with the dolphins and lives in a kayak in Kettle Cove. On May 23rd, Chelsea went for a kayaking trip with her best friend Emily who lives in a normal home. While kayaking, they decided to take some measurements of where Chelsea lives. Using the thermometer Chelsea uses to battle the invasive green crab species, they reached the conclusion that the water temperature at the surface was 10 degrees Celsius. The GoMOOS buoy sitting on the site along the Casco Bay waters, however, was recorded as being a little over 9 degrees Celsius for the same date and time. We believe that although these measurements were very close, the slight difference could be accounted for. While sitting in Chelsea’s kayak, we were only able to get the temperature at the very tip of the surface, while the buoy calculated the temperature one meter down, one meter away from the sun. We then continued with our studies by measuring the salinity of the water, which affects those who live there with Chelsea. Conveniently, Chelsea’s favorite drinking cup at home is her Deep-Six. By dunking this in the water, we were able to get a number value of the amount of salt, which came out to be twenty-eight parts per thousand. Just to double check our salinity data, we took a second measurement using a refractometer that Chelsea created out of a washed-up pair of binoculars. We felt reassured when Chelsea took a reading of 24 parts per thousand, which agreed with our original number. We again compared this set of data with the GoMOOS buoy, which had recorded a steady measurement of 30.6 for the whole day. These slight differences, again, could be explained by a higher salinity level deeper in the water, where the buoy collected at one meter and we collected at the extreme surface.
2. Buoy Data - 11:00 AM, 5/23/06
Location Water Temperature (Celsius) Salinity (0/00)
Kettle Cove 10 degrees 26.0
Massachusetts Bay 8.8 degrees 29.0
Scotian Bay 6.3 degrees 31.52
Penobscot 10.8 degrees 24.08
Eastern Maine Shelf 7.8 degrees 31.55
The much lower degrees of temperature in the Eastern Maine Shelf and the Scotian Bay can probably be accounted for being much colder than Kettle Cove since they are farther up north, closer to the pole. The northern areas have higher salinity levels than those farther down the coast. This data could be related to the amount of rain.
3. The physical factors of an organism’s habitat definitely influence them. The temperature of the water is related to the amount of sunlight, explaining why the surface has a higher temperature than at depth. Therefore, marine organisms who photosynthesize would probably thrive better in the warmer areas of the water where there is more sunlight. The temperature also really influences the inner workings of marine organisms, since many of them are cold-blooded, and their inner temperatures are constantly the same as their surroundings. The salinity of the water is also important to marine life since many of the ocean’s inhabitants, aside from mammals, breathe by obtaining oxygen from the water. Too much or too little salt in the water could have a negative impact on the inner workings of organisms. Also, animals who rely on buoyancy for movement and survival depend upon the salt in the water to keep them afloat in the water column.