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Posts Tagged "water quality"

Freshwater Mussels

Posted on Sep 17, 2015

Freshwater Mussels

Is it just me, or does it seem this mussel is sticking it’s tongue out at us? Interestingly, mussels don’t have tongues at all! The white, fleshy protrusion you see is actually referred to as the mussel’s foot. While we often don’t witness mussels moving, as they do it very slowly, this is exactly what this one is attempting to do. Mussels will use their muscular foot to inch themselves across a stream or river bed when they feel they are in danger or need to find a more suitable area to settle. Once in place, a freshwater mussel will often bury itself into the...

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Successful WAVE Training

Posted on Jun 1, 2015

Successful WAVE Training

We couldn’t have asked for a more gorgeous day to get out into a local stream and evaluate its water quality! Here are some photos from last week’s WAVE (Water Assessments by Volunteer Evaluators) training led by NYS DEC. Using the knowledge and hands-on experiences that was gained through our training, each of us will be able to go out and assess nearby streams to determine if they are impacted by pollutants, sedimentation and so on based on the little critters (macro-invertebrates) we find living beneath the rocks and logs within each. As we work on the Chadakoin River, in...

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Water Testing Round 2

Posted on Nov 1, 2014

Water Testing Round 2

Our water testing with SUNY Jamestown Community College interns continues as we get through our eight samples testing for nitrogen, phosphorous, turbidity, dissolved oxygen and temperature. Next week we will finish up going through our samples and share our findings of the water quality of the Chadakoin River. This information will give us more insight about the habitat the Spiny Softshell Turtles are utilizing and what conditions they are tolerable of. Stay tuned as some of our results may surprise you!

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Water Testing

Posted on Oct 24, 2014

Water Testing

This week we have been getting outside collecting water samples and running some tests looking for specific elements in the waters of the Chadakoin River. The resulting data will give us more insight into the water quality of the river and the tolerances the Spiny Softshell Turtles appear to have to the existing conditions. We tested temperature and dissolved oxygen levels with our SUNY Jamestown Community College interns and Jan Bowman, JCC professor of biology, and will be testing for levels of phosphorous and nitrogen as well. Spiny Softshell Turtles are rather sensitive to pollutants, so...

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