Clear Sky, Clear Bay: Improving Water Quality in the Great South Bay.

By Shangtong Li

Photo Credit: Shangtong Li

96.8 F, radiant sun, clear sky, and a cool breeze brings the fresh briny smell of the sea. Tzortziou Bio-Optics Lab members boarded Patty Ann at the Captree State Park in Babylon, New York again—to sample stations along the Great South Bay. 

An almost cloudless day, conditions were optimal for conducting radiometric measurements of the color of the water and linking to water quality state.

We noticed a new face sitting at the seating area of the boat—Gino—Captain Greg's son. He grew up hanging around the boat with his dad. Gino is graduating middle school and is excited to be a high schooler. He dreams of becoming a marine biologist, and his favorite fish is the sea robin. 

Upon setting sail, Captain Greg told the team about the mysterious red algae that had appeared in the waters a week after our last visit. The red algae is a naturally occurring species in the Bay. The recent weather and water conditions seem to be conducive to their growth.

When asked about the tuna trip that the captain mentioned when we said our goodbyes at the end of the last trip, Greg was proud to say that they caught eight yellowfin tuna ranging from 40-75 pounds, with a big grin on his face.

He has also been catching bountiful fluke, sea bass, and sea robin, as well as species not from the New York region, such as blacktip and spinner sharks.

"The water has been so clear this year!" said Captain Greg. According to him, the water in the Bay during the summer times usually looks like chocolate milk, and 2022 is the first year in the past five years that the water is this clear. "It is definitely improving." A friend of Greg's lives on the water, who usually can't see anything in the canal, but now he can. However, the water clarity ten years ago was still better.

Captain Greg linked the improved water conditions this year to the COVID-19 pandemic and increased diesel prices. While sailing through the main channel to Fire Island, the captain was surprised to see so few boats around us. "Normally, hundreds of boats would be out on a day like this." 
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When asked how natural disasters affected the area, Hurricane Sandy was the first thing that came to Greg's mind. He pointed at the marshes and houses within our horizon, "these were all underwater." One of Greg's friends' street never flooded before Hurricane Sandy, but since then, it has flooded six times. His other friend had to hire a crane helicopter to pick up their boat because it floated away during the hurricane. This friend had to place the boat in his swimming pool for two weeks. Amid all the chaos and loss during the hurricane, Captain Greg was thankful that his family was not affected.