Kilo ʻĀina student research: Week 2

March 2, 2019

Hey! This is Marlon from one of the Oceanography groups.

This week, we first scouted the beach near Blaisdell Park for a good spot that was deep enough to conduct a plankton tow. At the end, we concluded to go back to a little pier we found near the mouth of the Waimalu Stream.

We recorded background information from what the clouds and weather were like, to water quality information such as pH, temperature, turbidity, and conductivity. After which, Kelsey did a four-minute plankton tow and we later analyzed the plankton present in our tow at the lab at LCC. Dr. Faucci, Dr. Viviani, and Dr. Mohan answered all of our questions on what would constitute as stress in the Waimalu Stream, what zooplankton and phytoplankton that would be present in certain parts of Pearl Harbor and whether or not they reside near shore or offshore.

The entire process of collecting plankton and learning about them from our professors is plenty of fun and I look forward to this next week!