Bleaching in the Caribbean

Bleaching in the Caribbean, great visualization by NOAA over the summer of 2010 showing mass bleaching! A sad day for the ecosystem.

Dissolved oxygen levels indicate health of reefs

Dissolved oxygen is vital to support life and on coral reefs it is especially important. The concentration of dissolved oxygen is one of the best indicators of the health of an ecosystem. When oxygen levels drop, life can no longer be supported and fish can die.

Measuring dissolved oxygen (DO) can be performed using titrations, just like in chemistry classes, or by using a specialized probe.

We are making a DO probe that will be fully submersible and can be carried around by a diver to measure DO levels on reefs. The one we are using is made by Global Water. Now we just need to make a datalogger from an arduino and then waterproof the whole thing!