[SEMCO] Provincetown scientists release multi-year analysis of water quality in Cape Cod Bay

[Cathrine Macort]

*Provincetown scientists release multi-year analysis of water quality in
Cape Cod Bay*

Researchers in the Cape Cod Bay Monitoring Program (CCBMP) at the
Provincetown Center for Coastal Studies (PCCS) have announced the release
of the  technical report *"How is Our Bay? Five Years of Environmental
Monitoring of Cape Cod Bay".*

*"How is Our Bay?"* presents the results of analyses of five years of data
on water quality collected at 54 stations throughout the Cape Cod Bay; four
years of eelgrass habitat studies at five locations; four years of
monitoring in five harbors for the presence of marine invasive species; and
a summary of a preliminary assessment for the presence of four
pharmaceutical compounds at five sampling locations in Cape Cod Bay.

The overall results of the Cape Cod Bay Monitoring Project are mixed:

* Water quality has improved at 55% of the stations monitored, declined at
40% of stations, and stayed the same at 6%. Overall, there is a pattern of
deteriorating conditions each year in the summer months in the inshore and
nearshore stations.

* Eelgrass, the aquatic plant that provides valuable habitat for juvenile
fish and shellfish, also exhibits variations in the health and growth of
beds throughout the Bay, reflecting the degrees of disturbance and
pollution in the test areas. An increase in certain invasive plants and
algae are also having a negative impact on the health and distribution of
eelgrass habitat.

* Pharmaceutical compounds were detected at four of five sites sampled in
2010

The CCBMP just completed its seventh field season and these data and an
analysis of all the data from 2006-2012 will be available next spring.

For more information about the Cape Cod Bay Monitoring Program please
contact CCBMP Director Amy Costa (acosta at coastalstudies.org; 508-487-3623
ext. 122), or Marine Policy Director Pat Hughes (phughes at coastalstudies.org;
508-487-3623, ext. 121).  They are available to discuss the results of the
CCBMP and/or make a presentation on the observations and results discussed
in "How is Our Bay?"

The report can be viewed and downloaded at:
http://www.coastalstudies.org/images/HowsOurBay-WEBFINAL-refedit-1.pdf
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://mailman.whoi.edu/pipermail/semco/attachments/20121204/cef9d242/attachment.htm