“Don’t forget to hold on tight,” said Shane Brandt, water quality researcher at UNH, at the exact moment that I forgot to hold on tight. The spool of string I was grasping whipped out of my hand with incredible force as Hollyn chucked the collection device out across the lake with all of her might. The group stared into the water in absolute silence for about twenty seconds, the spool and net floating gently on the surface. As the net dipped beneath the water, the laughter started.
“Oops,” I said. Hollyn and I were at a cyanobacteria training in Wolfeboro, learning all about the various species, how to identify a bloom, what causes them, and more. We had volunteered to demonstrate for the group how to get a water sample. The device was a funnel shaped mesh bag, with mesh that was only micro meters thick, so as to trap the tiny cyanobacteria. A short yellow hose protruded from the bottom to release the gathered water into a collection cup, in order to look at it under a microscope and count the cyanobacteria. The standard for declaring a bloom is seeing greater than 70,000 parts (cyanobacteria) per milliliter.
Cyanobacteria are practically everywhere in the world, from deserts to tundra to lakes, and while they aren’t necessarily a bad thing, in high concentrations, certain species can be toxic to humans, which is why beaches and lakes are often shut down once a bloom has been detected. Climate change, including changes in rain patterns, is a large driver of the increasing numbers of blooms we are seeing, along with nutrient loading, human development alongside water bodies, and low oxygen conditions. I’d learned all of this and more prior to releasing the collection device into the cold lake water.
Shane sighed and good naturedly started to roll up his pants and take off his socks. The water at the end of the dock was about waist deep, and the net was almost at the bottom, the string I was supposed to be holding onto with dear life waving gently in the current. He assured me that this happened a lot, with all sorts of the equipment he uses to demonstrate water sampling to people. Someone at the back of crowd finds a long metal pole, however, before Shane can do anything heroic. Hollyn digs around underwater with the pole until she hooks the string, and we manage to pull it back out. This time, we switch positions, with me throwing and Hollyn holding on to the string. We are much more successful, and everyone crowds around to look, even though the (mostly) clear water we’ve collected won’t show us anything until we get it under a microscope.
All in all, it was a successful training, and I learned a lot about what makes New Hampshire’s lakes tick. I also learned a little something about paying better attention to my surroundings! As part of Lakes Region Conservation Corps with NH LAKES, I learn something new each day, and I’m excited to pass this knowledge along to anyone who comes to NH LAKES events.
Julia recently graduated from the University of Vermont with a major in biology and a minor in art. You can read more about Julia here.