Oceanography class experiences Audubon's pilot program

Posted by: Debbie Bowley on Fri, 27 October 2006 14:52:17

April Kelley’s oceanography class participated in a four-hour hands-on field laboratory experience on October 26. The trip was part of the Milford Audubon's pilot program for Project SOS (State of Our Sound). Nineteen students participated in the experience which was presented by Audubon Center naturalist Frank Gallo who led the girls in weather recording, plankton trawling, water sampling and chemical testing of the water. The students tested water samples for the presence of dissolved oxygen, nitrates and phosphates. They discovered that Long Island Sound currently falls into acceptable levels for all three major gases. After trawling, the girls took the specimens inside and identified species of phytoplankton and zooplankton using a scientific key. The big find of the day was a copepod (microscopic shrimp-like organism).