Scenes from the Detroit River - Field Work Day

[kgd]

Yesterday morning I had the pleasure of booking a day of field work on the Detroit River. We were on the River by 7:00 am, the waters were as calm as could be the temperature cool enough to enjoy a long sleeve shirt, but warm enough to not need a shell. It was a pretty relaxing work day too. We had set in some freshwater mussel biomonitors 30 days ago and were picking them up. We collect the mussels from a reference lake, cage them in place in the river for different amounts of time (30, 60, 90 days). Then we analyze the amount of contaminants (Hg, PCBs, PAHs, OC-pesticides and PBDEs) picked up during their vacation in the wonderful waters of the Detroit. We then apply bioaccumulation models to back estimate what the water concentration is based on the accumulated residues in the mussel tissues. We also measure lipid and glycogen content in the mussel's bodies as a measure of their nutrient reserve status. Stress and food limitations can be picked up by measuring their body condition and whether this changes over deployment time.

Here is my Post-Doc from Krakow, Poland doing the honors of pulling up one of the cages. You can see our wonderful little clam-condos.

We remove 5 mussels and then placed the remaining guys back. We had 6 cages distributed throughout the river that we picked up on Friday and picked up another 8 cages earlier last week (I wasn't part of that one).

The rest of the scenes are just some pretty shots from the lower U.S. part of the Detroit River.

Swans hanging by Celeron Island. Celeron Island is just south of Grosse Isle for those familiar with the area.

Another shot of Celeron Island showing the calmness of the water yesterday. Not too many days look like this on the Detroit River!

Looking into Trenton Channel from Celeron. Again, for the folks familiar with the area, the Candy-Cane striped towers of the Detroit Edison plant in the foreground serve as a reference to our position. This is just a gorgeous part of the Detroit River. Too bad is among the most contaminated parts also! Don't worry, we won't tell the millionaires with their houses facing the water this is the case

 

[kgd]

In one of the back bays on the lower river we spotted a large Cladophora algal bloom. This is a blue-green algal bloom sparked by excess nutrients. This really isn't that bad in terms of its size and location and the hazard it poses, but a good sign to the residents living there that they are not in control of the nutrient releases going into their waters.

On the other side of that embayment is a nice naturalized area.

If you couldn't pull a largemouth bass and few N. pikes along this weedline, then you would have to be the most incompetent of fishermen Unfortunately, I can angle on the job, especially in U.S. waters so we had to just look at this spot and think about how great it would be to fish there.

 

[rwiggins]

Cool, thanks for sharing kgd! If I were a clam, I'd be proud to stay in a clam-condo, lol! If I may, how is the research going?

 

[kgd]

Cool, thanks for sharing kgd! If I were a clam, I'd be proud to stay in a clam-condo, lol! If I may, how is the research going?

Thanks rwiggins. Research has its ups and downs but it is the main reason I'm in the profession that I'm in. As an academic I can pretty much choose whatever topic under my field of expertise I wish to explore. The only caveat is that I have to find the funding to do so. Funding for environmental science waxes and wanes depending on political leanings. For the most part it has been pretty good for me. I love being able to support a lab with multiple post-docs (I have 3), PhDs (I now have 4, 2-co-advised) and MSc students (2). The PDFs and students do the brunt of the work and I mostly live vicariously through their projects. When it all works out right, their cummulative efforts lend themselves to my broader and long term research goals and objectives. There are a few other Prof's on BF, like Mentor and Talfuchre, and I'm sure they can pipe in what it is that they love about their jobs

 

[rwiggins]

Funding. Funding? That means money, right? What, on Earth, is that? lol I hear you! I wish that research was more heavily funded and less political (from the local level on up!). Would that our forefathers have included scientific research in the constitution along with a well provisioned navy. I admire what you are doing and just want to thank you. I hope that attitudes change for the better and the sciences receive better, guaranteed funding. Wouldn't that be nice!

 

[kgd]

Funding. Funding? That means money, right? What, on Earth, is that? lol I hear you! I wish that research was more heavily funded and less political (from the local level on up!). Would that our forefathers have included scientific research in the constitution along with a well provisioned navy. I admire what you are doing and just want to thank you. I hope that attitudes change for the better and the sciences receive better, guaranteed funding. Wouldn't that be nice!

Yeah it would be nice, but then again, I don't mind having to justify to my funders and to society why my work is important. It helps me put things into perspective. I have my egghead theoretical stuff that I work on at a low funding level and I have my more applied work that gets better funding. I don't see anything wrong with that model. Like anybody else, I have to earn my keep to collect a paycheck and do what I do

I appreciate the fact that you value scientific studies. Some folks tend to think environmental scientists are somehow a stop gap to economic progress, I like to think that our efforts are more of a lubricant to ensure that progress keeps moving forward

 

[rwiggins]

Well, it's only the freakin' food chain, right? lol Seriously, in my humble opinion, that is justification a'plenty. And yes, I totally agree with you in regards to your opinion on economic progress. I'm all for it. But let's progress responsibly. The way I view it, your work keeps it real, so to speak. It does no good if we progress ourselves right out of existence, lol.

Not to derail your thread or anything, I like the picture of your knives and axe! That's pretty much all someone needs, right there! Of course, that doesn't stop me from spending more and more on nice blades, lol. Do you get a chance to practice your wood craft often?

 

[Mentor]

Excellent pics, Ken. It's always interesting to hear about your working forays - I come away from these threads with new knowledge and a hankering for seafood.

For me, there are plenty of attractions to a job in academia - the ability to pursue your interests, the challenging nature of the work, the chance to work with students, and the opportunity to contribute to the public knowledge base. But, to be honest, the real attraction is the abundance of catered events. I EDC tupperware when I'm at work, and I can usually score a few meals worth of sandwiches and salads from the various events taking place around the campus each week. Call it a foraging skill in an urban academic environment. The likelihood of scoring food is affected by a number of situational variables - how late did the notice of the visiting lecturer's talk go out? Do they work on an obscure topic that it intelligible only to a niche group? If so, do you have what it takes to appear interested long enough to abscond with sandwiches during the break?



All the best,

- Mike

 

[kgd]

There is a thread not too long ago in W&SS that you can search for called 'Post your trios' or something to that affect. I took my sig. picture on inspiration from that thread. I've camped most of my life but can only say I've gotten more into traditional and bushcraft skills only seriously after finding W&SS. There are folks here that are way more experienced than me and this place is great for gleaning good information. I've also had the great experience of meeting up with and learning from some of those members like Doc Canada and Magnussen who seem to enjoy passing on some of their skills. Stick around here and I guarantee you will learn a bunch no matter what your skill level is and also meet some great personalities!

 

[kgd]

LMAO - Mentor, and given these size of my butt, that is a long and hearty laugh

 

[scotchleaf]

Nice, looks like fun

 

[Jason B.]

I can see my house in one of those pics

Not really but I do know the spots you are in quite well.

 

[brians]

Ooooooh, Muskies

 

[TheGame]

Great information, and nice pics. I used to go up there a lot a few years back, but not so much anymore. Thanks for the pics, haven't really spent much time around it lately.

 

[razcob]

Detroit River.......I'm surprised you didn't pull up any bodies!!

 

[kgd]

Detroit River.......I'm surprised you didn't pull up any bodies!!

Detroit has its reputation, but it has a lot to offer. The river for one thing, but its Downtown with Greektown and Mexican town and the arts institute are pretty special. There are ugly parts for sure, but there are nice areas too.

 

[rayban]

Detroit has its reputation, but it has a lot to offer. The river for one thing, but its Downtown with Greektown and Mexican town and the arts institute are pretty special. There are ugly parts for sure, but there are nice areas too.

Great pictures from a vantage point I don't get to see much....I go by those red and white smoke stacks several times a week since I am a "down river" kinda guy.:thumbup: