I think there's hope!
For those of you that maybe haven't tracked messages from BillP & I & a few others -- I thoroughly enjoy and try hard to keep regular on volunteering to do "Scientific Diver" dives at Aquarena Springs - - but we come back reporting about cleaning windows on the submarine theater and other such tasks that really utilize my advanced degree, etc.....
Not on this report! - Yesterday, on a sneak afternoon dive - I got to help one of the scientists with the Edwards Aquifer Authority collect dye sampling stations and water samples. - Not all that techy - They hauled me around to 5 different springs [the glass bottom boats make a GREAT DPV!] - I go down, take a sample and retrieve their dye detector, which looks supiciously like a 10 lb concrete weight, with 2 teabags hanging off of it. [The teabags are actually carbon filters that adsorb the stuff] - Then take the station back down after she changed out the teabags. Stephanie, the EAA scientist - left me a map from their paper on the sampling program, which showed the major aquifer pathways and how fast the dye was transported through them!
The springs are still at the nominal 68 degrees but the vis is WAY down to ~40 feet due to a diatom bloom that's going on right now. As is my approved habit - I collected a couple of mesh bags of hydrilla for our compost on the way out. This was enough for the day as my sinus' were reminding me that this is abuse! - like DM'ing a OW class due to the 14 ascent/descent pairs I did for the dive entotal.
Great Fun!
Cheers
For those of you that maybe haven't tracked messages from BillP & I & a few others -- I thoroughly enjoy and try hard to keep regular on volunteering to do "Scientific Diver" dives at Aquarena Springs - - but we come back reporting about cleaning windows on the submarine theater and other such tasks that really utilize my advanced degree, etc.....
Not on this report! - Yesterday, on a sneak afternoon dive - I got to help one of the scientists with the Edwards Aquifer Authority collect dye sampling stations and water samples. - Not all that techy - They hauled me around to 5 different springs [the glass bottom boats make a GREAT DPV!] - I go down, take a sample and retrieve their dye detector, which looks supiciously like a 10 lb concrete weight, with 2 teabags hanging off of it. [The teabags are actually carbon filters that adsorb the stuff] - Then take the station back down after she changed out the teabags. Stephanie, the EAA scientist - left me a map from their paper on the sampling program, which showed the major aquifer pathways and how fast the dye was transported through them!
The springs are still at the nominal 68 degrees but the vis is WAY down to ~40 feet due to a diatom bloom that's going on right now. As is my approved habit - I collected a couple of mesh bags of hydrilla for our compost on the way out. This was enough for the day as my sinus' were reminding me that this is abuse! - like DM'ing a OW class due to the 14 ascent/descent pairs I did for the dive entotal.
Great Fun!
Cheers