Turbidity - How Do We Test For It?

I’m Katie. I’m a part of Ocean Guardians. I’m going to tell you about the turbidity tube. First thing you need to know is the four parts of the turbidity tube. The parts are a clear tube, a tube cap, a viewing disc, and a measuring device. To use the tube, fill it with water from the creek until you can no longer see the viewing disc at the bottom of the tube. Then look at the side of the tube and use the measuring device to measure the turbidity. If the water is murkier the higher the turbidity is. This is how you measure the turbidity using the turbidity tube.

Turbidity - What's That All About?

by Caleb

I am a student in the Home Based Partnership Ocean Guardians class. We go down the Maria Ygnacio creek to test the water. One of these test is turbidity, turbidity is measuring how clear the water is. The greater the turbidity the murkier the water is. Solids vary from clay, silt and plankton, industrial waste and sewage.

If the water is dirty, how does it affect the ecosystem? When the turbidity is higher it affect the organisms in the creek. The particles floating in the water absorbs heat from the sunlight, which causes the water to become warmer. Warmer water holds less oxygen. A lack of sunlight causes some bugs to die because they’re is not enough oxygen in the water.

Pacific Mole Crab at Goleta Beach

Acorn Woodpecker

by Chloe

The Trouble with Trash

by Lauren

I would like to explain how trash affects our creeks and bodies of water. When people litter, they leave trash on the ground, right? Well, when the rains come, all that trash and litter gets washed into our creeks and oceans. When it gets in our creeks, it flows down until it meets the ocean. Then the trash gets pushed out to the islands where sea creatures and other animals that live on the islands eat. When they eat this trash, depending on if it’s aluminum, plastic, metal, etc., they can die from it. This makes me very sad when I see litter on the ground. I would very much like it if no one EVER littered, but how can we stop these people? Easy, when you find any trash on the ground or even in our lakes, pick it up! It’s really that simple, only, you have to continually do this. Someday, I wish that everyone would be nice to our lovely, wonderful, earth and not litter. I hope that this has inspired you to help with this issue. Thank you for listening to what I had to say.

Native and Invasive Creek Plants

Sycamore Sprouts

by Nashat

Plants that live near the creek can affect the creek in many ways. Most native plants are beneficial to the creek. The Arroyo Willow tree and the Western Sycamore are very good for the creek. Little animals such as fish, frogs, and crayfish that live in the creek get oxygen from the willow and sycamore. However, there are some plants that are invasive and take up the space of the good plants, so the little animals in the creek can’t get enough oxygen. Some examples are Cape Ivy, a plant that has seven point leaves, and Periwinkle, with light purple flowers.

Cape Ivy

Periwinkle

Coyote Skull

by Ryan

Our class went on a field trip to do water testing at the lower part of Maria Ygnacio creek. When we were doing the water testing, I saw a skull in the water. I got it out of the water and didn’t know what kind of skull it was. I took it to the Santa Barbara Natural History Museum and I found out it was a coyote skull. At first, I thought it was a raccoon skull but it wasn’t. It was fun to find it and figure out what kind if skull it was. :) Here is the skull in a picture and a skull with a bottom jaw.


Aren’t these awesome!

E-Coli and Coliform

by John

Coliforms consist of a related group of different bacteria species. Coliforms are found in two distinct sources. You will find them in human and animal wastes. You can also find it in within the environment (soil, vegetation etc.).

Coliform
Why do we test for Coliforms? Coliforms are the “indicator” organisms to tell you if the water is bacteriologically polluted. If there is a large amount of Coliform in the water, it is unhealthy. The fewer the Coliforms, the healthier the water.

E-Coli

E. Coli, or Escherichia coli, is a Coliform group bacteria. These rod-shaped bacteria are found in the intestinal track of warm-blooded animals. It is also the indicator of fresh pollution from human and animals.
A German pediatrician, named Theodor Escherich, first discovered E. Coli in 1885. Thus, it has its name, Escherichia coli.

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How we test for Coli form and E. Coli.

The way we test for Coliform and E. Coli is by using a syringe or pipette to suck up some water from the creek. Then, we squirt the water from the syringe onto a substance that changes and reacts over the course of a week or so, and after that, they form colonies (which look like little dots). These colonies appear to be red and blue. The colonies are only the “dots” that have air bubbles on the sides. And anything else does not count as a colony.