RESEARCH
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the area worth about $8 billion
a year.
The Ocean Research and
Conservation Association,
better known as ORCA, led by
founder Edie Widder, monitors
the lagoon with devices called
Kilroys, named after the famous
World War II cartoon character
with the long nose that peered
over a fence with the caption
“Kilroy was here.” They closely
track water quality in the Indian
River Lagoon and post it online
where scientists and residents
can view it in real time.
“Our current research
focuses on the Indian River
Lagoon and surrounding
waterways,” says spokeswoman
Lauren Tracy. “ORCA’s goal is to
provide the information that
is needed to determine what
aspects of the lagoon have
become unhealthy and what
we can best do to put things
back in balance.”
The ORCA Ecotoxicity Program
conducts tests that show
pollution hot spots, which can
be monitored by the Kilroys
to help identify pollution and
its sources. “The health of the
Indian River Lagoon is interwoven
with the well-being of the
people living on and near its
shores,” she says. “Pollution of
our waterways, algae blooms
and the latent accumulation
of toxins in fish taken from the
lagoon all have the potential to
become a source of harm to the
residents in our community.”
ORCA is also committed
to working with budding
scientists, young students who
help to grow plants used for
shoreline restoration, as well
as engaging students and
community members in a new
citizen science program.
At the Smithsonian Marine
Station in Fort Pierce, Blake
Ushijima is working hard to
stop a bacterial coral disease
that is destroying the tissues
of living stony coral and devastating
the Florida coral reef
tract. The Marine Station also
monitors water in the Indian
River Lagoon. Its director, Valerie
Paul, is working on ways
to stem the flow of blue-green
algae from Lake Okeechobee
discharges into the St. Lucie
Estuary which then creep into
the Indian River Lagoon.
Oysters, often thought of as
lowly creatures that are good
to eat, play a role in cleansing
the water of the Indian River
Lagoon and St. Lucie Estuary.
At the Florida Oceanographic
Society in Stuart, where Glenn
Coldren heads the oyster
reef program, oyster shells
are packed into net bags and
placed adjacent to each other
in the water to attract and
grow baby oysters. Each adult
oyster is capable of filtering
and cleaning 50 gallons of
water a day.
Thousands of volunteers
have assisted in restoring over
800,000 oysters to the St. Lucie
River estuary. But in a new program,
researchers are trying to
restore eroded shoreline using
oyster reefs. Coldren said they
are building planters for grasses
into the reefs so the saltmarsh
grass area can expand and
create new shoreline. The reef
tops are tilted backward to trap
sediment better. While most
reefs are three feet wide, the
new ones are six feet wide.
In St. Lucie County, a successful
SMITHSONIAN
oyster reef program headed
by Jim Oppenborn, the county
coastal resources director,
relies on hundreds of adult and
youth volunteers to bag oyster
shells, which are then taken
out and placed in the lagoon to
help cleanse the water.
Oppenborn recently discovered
sponges never seen before
in the Indian River Lagoon.
Growing on an oyster reef, they
since have been identified by
Harbor Branch researchers
as Suberites aurantiacus. The
sponge type is normally found
in the Caribbean and Gulf of
Mexico. A survey looking for
more, and further investigation
may follow.
All of this, the collaboration,
the intense research focus on
health, the environment, and
agriculture, the involvement of
schools, colleges and universities,
is important to the region
as well as the state, the nation
and around the world.
Often hidden from the daily
life of residents, research is
alive and well on the Treasure
Coast, growing the economy
and new scientists too. v
Beautiful living corals such as these can be breathtaking when seen in clear water, like the waters off the Treasure Coast.
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