Barnegat Bay water quality

[J Levine]

Last weekend I cleaned the interior carpets in the boat so before I closed it up for the week I left both AC units on the heat mode and set for 70 to help dry things out in the cabin. Today when I was on the boat I decided to clean the AC sea strainer since I figured the water was probably flowing through it a lot in last 7 days as it had been on the cool side most of last week. In the summer I clean the AC strainer and the generator strainer every weekend just to keep up with the eel grass and, in the latter part of the season, the jelly fish which only really became a problem in the strainers last year. Well here it is the first few days on May and the AC strainer was full of jelly fish! What has been happening to the bay over just the last few years is very concerning. I took the time to look in the water in the marina and sure enough the jelly fish have already arrived. I would imagine this is due to the rather warm winter we had and the continued changes the bay is going though due to development I suspose. It is really unfortunate, I love to swim off the boat with the kids but I fear that if I we have jelly fish already, by mid summer they could be terrible. I have been on the bay since I was a kid, is it just me or is it changing fast or what?

 

[Bridog]

That's not good. I have not seen them in the Manasquan...yet!

 

[fc3]

I've been on the Metedeconk since 1987, except for a few years when I was in Baywood. Don't remember that many jellyfish way back when. It seems that they are becoming more common. I would check with an expert, but I already know the answer; algore says it's global warming.

Wikepedia lists:

According to Claudia Mills of the University of Washington, the frequency of jellyfish blooms may be attributed to man's impact on marine systems. She says that the breeding jellyfish may merely be filling ecological niches formerly occupied by overfished creatures. Jellyfish researcher Marsh Youngbluth further clarifies that "jellyfish feed on the same kinds of prey as adult and young fishes, so if fish are removed from the equation, jellyfish are likely to move in."


Aurelia aurita, commonly known as moon jellyfish.
Increased nutrients in the water, ascribed to agricultural runoff, have also been cited as an antecedent to the proliferation of jellyfish. Monty Graham, of the Dauphin Island Sea Lab in Alabama, says that "ecosystems in which there are high levels of nutrients ... provide nourishment for the small organisms on which jellyfish feed. In waters where there is eutrophication, low oxygen levels often result, favoring jellyfish as they thrive in less oxygen-rich water than fish can tolerate. The fact that jellyfish are increasing is a symptom of something happening in the ecosystem."

I'll buy the agricultural runoff explanation. Development has been booming in the area and even more so, manicured landscaping is the new shore style. All of that landscaping requires lots of fertilizer in the sandy soil common to the area.

It's the locals. They need to regulate themselves instead of worrying about marine heads and speed limits on the bay.

Best regards,
Frank

 

[Ricky]

Frank

Ray and I saw them at OB yesturday as well.... so much for Silver Bay this year.

Ricky

 

[Ricky]

We can't get a break!!!

 

[J Levine]

On the same subject. I hit the "secret spot" today. What a mess. Close to shore you encounter these huge blobs of goo suspended in the water the likes of which I have never seen on the bay having been on the water since I was a kid. This stuff clogged my AC strainer in minutes and then pluged up the AC pump. I had to get in the water a pull this crap out of the intake strainers for the AC and the mains and then had to blow out the AC units with a garden hose back at the dock to get the AC system working again. The Bay is changing and changing fast and not for the good.... very concerning and very sad.

 

[osd9]

Jon....We were headed over to Tices, and we saw the globs of stuff (I think it was an alage bloom) and heard a few folks talking on the radio about it cloggin up their strainers. We turned around and went up the Toms River and set hook in the Pine Beach cove. The water was typical TR Brown, but clear of any growth.

On another note, we saw another CSR member on the hook in the TR cove flying the burgee. I was in the water cleaning my water line and I was going to dinghy over and say hi, but before I got out of the water, they had Sea Tow hookin' up. Who was that? Sorry I didn't get to come over and say Hi or offer any assistance....I didn't know you were stranded.

 

[Bridog]

I heard others talking about this at the dock. Hope it clears up quick.

 

[Alex F]

On the same subject. I hit the "secret spot" today. What a mess. Close to shore you encounter these huge blobs of goo suspended in the water the likes of which I have never seen on the bay having been on the water since I was a kid. This stuff clogged my AC strainer in minutes and then pluged up the AC pump. I had to get in the water a pull this crap out of the intake strainers for the AC and the mains and then had to blow out the AC units with a garden hose back at the dock to get the AC system working again. The Bay is changing and changing fast and not for the good.... very concerning and very sad.

I'm new to onboard A/C units, how can I tell if my AC strainer is clogged, aside from periodic inspection? Is there any alarms or warning signs you see or hear?

Thanks,
Alex.

 

[davefin]

osd9....I believe it was me that you saw at Pine Beach Cove yesterday. My favorite spot since moving boat to Dillon's Creek last Fall. I was there from 11:30 to about 3:30. My burgee flies from the bow. The boat that was hooking up to SeaTow was anchored right next to me and was not a SeaRay I believe it was a Larson. I saw the 410 with the dinghy in the water. Can I assume that was you? Wave next time you see me there. I have a 310 Dancer (Chrissie B 2).

Jon....You're not having a very good season are you? Hope to see you on the water soon. I plan to visit the scheduled for the Tices AquaPalooza on July 19th.

 

[osd9]

Dave:

I'm glad to hear that wasn't you who needed the tow. I was in the water cleaning the sides, and when I popped around to the stern, you were gone. My wife wasn't sure witch boat got towed, and she thought it was the Sea Ray, but in her defense, she did say the Larson first .....covering her bases I guess....:grin:

Anyway, like I said, I was going to come over by dink to say hi, but you guys were gone before I had the chance. You missed my little 'event'. I had the dinghy and my wife's floating tube tied off the same cleat with the tube in the dinghy to dry out before we left. When I went to pull in the tube, I untied both the dinghy and the tube....and yup....the dinghy got away from me. In a matter of just seconds it was 30 yards away. I dove in and swam to the dink. The best part was me trying to pull my silly fat arse into the dink....:smt101.

I just got back from home depot....I'm making a rope ladder for the dink this weekend.

We get up to the PB Cove frequently.....we'll catch up with you another time....

 

[davefin]

That's funny. Sorry I did not see you, as I could have come about and assisted getting your dink back to your boat. I had a lot of guests on board that could have grabbed it. They all own boats at Dillon's. We've been "boat pooling" to the anchorages this season. See ya on the TR.

 

[rondds]

alex
if it clogs, it'll shut down and give a code message that relates to poor water flow. that's when you shut the seacock and pull the metal strainer out, and clean it all up. we dont get any eel grass where we boat, but if i see it floating around an area that we travel to/through, i'll prophylactically pull all strainers and de-grass them.

davefin. what about the july12 pelican shindig? aintcha comin'?

 

[topgun1185]

As far as a/c condition always check the water flow. After a while you'll get use to what normal flow looks like. This is the best indicator... no flow , no a/c!

 

[sbw1]

Over development and fertilized lawns degrade watersheds. Michigan law now outlaws lawn fertilizers containing phosphorous. We stopped using this type of fertilizer several years ago and the lawn looks better than ever. The water quality on our lake is significantly improved and is very clear now compared to the "good old days." Now if we could only get a handle on all of those nonmigrating Canada Geese that the State "owns." They are another source of phosphorous, but are protected. They should be in the same category as coyotes and red squirrels. Maybe the Garden State should consider a phosphorous ban.

 

[osd9]

I was at Tices this past Saturday and we were on the hook for about 4 hours or so. In the morining, during my pre-flight ER checks, I decided to pull and clean all the strainers just as a matter of routine maintenance.

On the way back to port, I noticed that my port motor temp was a little warmer than normal....190-195ish..... from what has always been dead on at 185. No need to panic, so after I got home and cleared all the days stuff from the boat and washed everything down, I went into ER hoping to see that I didn't tigthen the strainer enough and I was sucking some air in......nope...dry as a bone.

So, I pulled the strainer and it was loaded with that brown "blob" stuff. I pulled the stbd strainer and it too had stuff in it, but just not as much.

The water at Tices was clear and I was even in swimming. I didn't see anything abnormal either. I guess this is going to be an all summer event at Tices this year!!!!!

Oh....I did get stuck in that T-Storm though....the lightning was so close we could hear it....

 

[Alex F]

Dom,
Were there any jellies at tices?

Man, that's some situation. You got the strainers full of stuff right after you got them cleaned? Is this somehting to do with the spot (bottom growth) at tices? I do remember that the "cut" has different type weeds, so I could see how this is possible.

 

[osd9]

No jellies at Tices last Saturday, and like I said, the water 'looked' clean....I even went swimming.

From the other BB thread, I agree 100% with Jon and his assertion of how the jellie population has gone from virtually zero 10 years ago to the explosion that we have today in.

I've been living on the Canals of Ocean County since 1985. It wasn't until just recently that jellies were even a concern. They were something that our friends in the Chessapeake had to contend with.

This season, they started floating by my dock very early in the season....then they died down to nothing. After that recent 100 degree hot spell we had two weeks ago, they've come back with a vegence....and large too. They were floating by my dock all weekend.....towards the bay. My canal is fed by a fresh water creek and the water in the canals is generlly brackish if that helps to decifer their whereabouts.