Elvers have been running and a visit from American Unagi!

What could be better on a spring day than class in hip waders, a net in hand, and then an eel in hand?!

Fast forward a day later, and we’re learning about the life cycle of the American eel, how they’re “fished” here in Ripley Creek, about our marsh as habitat, and to round out the experience, sampling smoked eel fillet!  Thanks to Philip Gwinnell, a team member at American Unagi who visited our class and company founder Sara Radamaker, a successful aquaculturalist and entrepreneur who is buying local elvers, growing them and producing quality product here on the mid-coast of Maine.

The star of the steamside visit was a weasel who was scampering among the nooks of the rocks below our feet!

Epic Fail

Ahead of the big blizzard that was forecast by week’s end, Mr. Meinersmann pulled the data card from the probe. It was going to be a simple step before students came down to chip the probe out of the ice.  There was seaweed frozen in the ice, proof of our big tides, and a post that was now leaning severely.  It’s clear, we need to get the probe out of the marsh before it could be washed away with a thaw.

We were excited, anticipating the salinity data from the King tide of early December but discovered that NO DATA WAS RECORDED by the probe!  We were expecting a month or so of data during early winter, a time of year in which we’ve never collected data before.  We were disappointed, but not disheartened!

Notice the rockweed strands around the base of the post! (Also, Brrrrr!)

To troubleshoot our probe, the dedication of Mr. Meinersmann is commendable!  On that frigid afternoon of the discovery, he brought his laptop to the probe and when directly connected with the probe, salinities of ~26 ppt and temperatures of 5.7 degrees Celcius were visible on his screen.

The next step…chip the probe out!!

 

Mr. John Mequist Sr. Visits our Classroom to Share Local Climate Change Observations

On December 13, 2021, we were lucky to have Kale’s grandfather, Mr. John Melquist Sr. visit our classroom and share his observations as we posed this question to him: What changes in our local environment have you observed, related to climate change?

“On Monday my Grandpa, aka John Melquist, came into the 7th grade and talked about the ocean creatures and the oceans around us. He also talked about rivers and global warming.” Kale

Classmates Zoe and Isaiah summarize what we learned:

Zoe writes, “Climate change is affecting our whole planet, our oceans, the Gulf of Maine, and if you look close enough, our community. On the 13th of December, John Melquist Sr. shared changes he has observed in our town over the years. Everything he talked about was centered around the oceans.

One of the biggest differences he mentioned is the tides. He said that both the height and the force of the tides have changed even in just the past 20 years. As an example, he mentioned that there is a brook on his property that 20 something years ago would rarely overflow. Now, it is rare for it not to overflow.”

Isaiah adds, “Another thing Mr. Melquist talked about was the tides. He told us that there has been a big difference in the force and height of the tides over the years. When Mr. Melquist was younger, the tide’s force was not that bad. It would usually go faster in the fall, but it wasn’t all the time. Now it is. The tides force is worse more often, and will drag the buoys underneath the water.”

Zoe explains in more detail:

“As for the force of the tides or the “current of the pull” when the tide is going in or out, he said that around 20 something years ago he would fish off the shores of Matinicus. In the fall, sometimes in the summer, and rarely in the spring, the current of the tide would be SO strong that buoys would run under the water, but only in these particular seasons. These days it is more common that when he is fishing off Matinicus at the wrong time of the tide, buoys will go under all year round. He has to adapt and make adjustments to his lines in order for them to work properly and it would make sense that other fisherman do/will have to as well.

Mr. Melquist described how the changing oceans are especially affecting the fishing community and the ocean life. For example, he mentioned that seabirds (like puffins) are having a tough time reproducing because the fish that the young usually eat (minnows) are disappearing, moving with their ideal climate. Since the preferable food isn’t there, the puffins are forced to catch butterfish which are bigger than minnows and harder for the chicks to digest. Often the butterfish don’t fit down the younglings throats.

Another thing that Mr. Melquist talked about was the size and quantity of herring. In the 80’s the whole harbor was closed because there were SO MANY! He said that for about 20 years when he was working at the sardine factory they always caught the smaller fish that were about 3 years old and he would be upset when fish bigger with more feed in them were brought in because they couldn’t be packed. He then realized that if there was no feed there would be no fish at all. Normally they would find the smaller ones they wanted, but around the early 2000’s the big ones started appearing. They didn’t want the older ones, but no one had any idea where they were growing up. That meant that there were no fish around that were in the correct stage of life to pack. Now there are no small herring around these waters and really not that much herring overall. It is suspected that they are moving to waters more preferable since their ideal climate isn’t here anymore.

Next, Mr. Melquist shared about temperature and ice, ice on the St. George river to be exact. He said that a summer day would almost NEVER reach 90 degrees and now it isn’t really uncommon. In the winter about a half a century ago, there would be HUNDREDS of smelt houses lined up on the ice on the St. George River. The ice would be plenty thick, sometimes 18 inches! 10 years ago, Mr. Melquist started noticing little or no ice at all on the river and nearby brooks. The ice was nowhere near thick enough to put a house on let alone stand on. This is yet another example of how much our oceans have changed – 18’’ to 0’’ of ice.”

Isaiah explains about the “eMOLT” research that lobstermen have participated in.  “One very problematic thing that is occurring lately is the lobster larvae are going adrift. A normal lobster larva floats on top of the water until they get too big and sink to the ocean floor. If the temperature is around 54 degrees, they stay there. But if the temperature is not one they like, the larva will go back up to the surface. They’ll float around some more, and usually they’ll end up in much deeper water. This makes it harder for people to catch them.”

We are indebted to Mr. Melquist for generously teaching us about our local resources through his own experiences. Thank you for talking with us!

Our reflections…

“I do know that Mr. Melquist is remarkable to have observed everything that he has and to give his time to contribute his findings. I thank him for his willingness to help and for supporting our class in the journey to learning what we can about the ocean and our changing environment, local and global.” Zoe

“All in all we learned quite a lot from Mr.Melquist about the problems around us that climate change has caused, and hopefully we can learn how to help fix it.” Isaiah

“I like the most learning about how the marsh turns from a salt marsh to an ice harvesting farm. I am concerned that ice is no longer thick enough at some spots. I am concerned about this because I like to go ice fishing.” Kale

“The thing I most enjoyed from his presentation was him talking about how he worked in a sardine factory. I know that there was a sardine factory at the top of Factory Hill that burned down. He said that the factory wanted 3-5 inch fish, but all they were catching were 7-9 inch fish which are too big.”  Keifer

Here is a link to a transcription of video we recorded that day.

 

December 2021 Update

December started with two big events; our salinity probe went back into the marsh, and a predicted King tide.  For the first time, we can use multiple resources to monitor the effects of this King tide; our sensor that will be tracking the salinity levels in the area of the marsh that experiences direct tidal flooding, and the LOCAL measurement of this tide, thanks to a new sensor placed in Tenants Harbor.

We can ask and answer, “How high was the King tide locally?” and “How did salinity change over time during the cycles of tides around the King tide event?”  

During the King tide, the town will be monitoring public roads that may flood. 

Here are the classroom updates around these two events!

Re-installing the Probe

Reported by Savannah and Meg

On  December 1, 2021 we put the probe back into the marsh.

On this icy morning we placed the salinity probe back into the marsh, in the waters on the shore opposite the Jackson Memorial Library, after being out of the water since September. We plowed through the ice to get to the base of the pole the probe is mounted on.   Clifford Tripp and our science teacher, Mrs.England put the probe back into the frozen marsh, breaking the ice with the PVC pipe to get to the pole.

The King Tide and Flood Sites

Reported by Zoe and Genevieve

On December 2nd, 2021, the 7th grade class at St. George school observed locations around town that may become a flood hazard from climate change and the king tides in the future. When a storm on top of a high/King tide occurs at the places we visited, the ocean may flood the road, possibly blocking evacuation routes. This is why the town is concerned about these sites. In science class we have also been learning about rising sea levels in the Gulf of Maine which over time is also going to cause flooding problems. The 7th grade has gone onto a site that is being used by our town’s select board called Flood resilience. It showed us what places around our town might look like when sea level increases over time.

(Dec 10th update) When the king tide, (The highest tide of the year) happened on December 5th, 2021, some of our classmates and community members went back to these locations to observe the effects of the King tide. Some people were able to capture this event with photos that got sent into the town afterwards. The tide was predicted to be a height of 12.1’ and the local tide measurement was captured by sensors as 16.31’.  It made us realize that these observations are important. Over time, the height of this past King tide could become the new normal high tide by 2060 and could occur once a month in 2060.

Here is the King tide flowing directly into the marsh on Dec. 5, 2021.

 

The 7th Grade Sea Salt Discovery

By Isaiah Felton and Oliver Tripp

The probe is out!

Isaiah, Zoe, Oliver and Gen retrieve the probe

On September 27th 2021 the 7B class went down to Ripley Creek in St. George and four of us were able to pull out a probe that was put in there on May 19th 2021. The probe collected data concerning the levels of salt in our marsh. It was put at the outlet of the marsh, which is one of the deeper areas of the marsh in which alewives may have spawned in the past. Over the past couple of years we’ve only seen a few alewives migrating into the marsh and historically, many alewives would migrate to our creek. During the early 1980s, there was a serious decline of alewives because of other factors, and by the mid-1980’s, the run was lost (See related post.)

The salinity data that was collected from this past spring is fairly disturbing. The highest level of salt occurred on May 26th 2021. It was a little bit over 30 ppt (parts per thousand). That means the outlet area of the marsh was 3% salt.The Atlantic Ocean is 35 ppt, or 3.5% salt.

Our 7th grade has been studying these tide levels. We are learning about the height of the tides, and why they are that high. Recently, on the 1st of December, the 7A class put the probe back in the marsh. It is possible that by 2060 we could experience more regular high tides similar to the king tide events happening now. (Source:  http://gulfofmaine.kingtides.net/king-tides-explained/) This is because of sea-level rise, which is caused by climate change.  So, if you want to see St. George school’s probe, just go to Ripley’s Creek, St. George Maine. In the meantime, the 7th grade will be documenting what we have discovered and learning why it’s important.  

 

A NEW St George Middle Level Science PODCAST… “Natural Resource Stories – People and Places”

We are proud to announce our new podcast series…

“Natural Resource Stories – People and Places”

Stories and learnings highlighting our connections to and appreciations for our community of people and places

Our first episode is “Meadow Brook Preserve and Rainbow Smelt History”

(click here to link to a QR code to listen or go to https://anchor.fm/alison-england)

              (If you would like to read a transcript of our podcast, click here)

This spring, students learned about the special resource history of Meadow Brook Preserve, the newest preserve and trail in our town.

In this episode, local residents Randy Elwell and John Melquist spoke to St. George School students and shared stories about smelting when they were kids; but now, smelt are hard to catch since the St.George River doesn’t freeze anymore, and smelt populations have been in decline since the 1980’s. Join us to listen to the local history of smelt fishing around the peninsula, and smelt history in Meadow Brook Preserve.

We hope to create more episodes about special places and their natural and human history…If you have your own story to tell about a special place, please contact the St. George School.

A Covid Fall and Hurricane Teddy

After school went to remote learning after March 13th, 2020, we are happy to be back to in-person learning at St. George School!

On Monday, September 21, 2020, the remnants of Hurricane Teddy tracked toward Nova Scotia and gave mid-coast Maine a forecast of wind, waves and coastal flooding in low-lying areas.  Unfortunately, because we’ve observed other storm tides, super moon and king tides bring tidal water right into the marsh, we knew we could expect saltwater intrusion into the marsh .  Fortunately, we were able to observe and capture video of the tidal event at our marsh, firsthand.

Later, on Friday, we found dead and dying minnows. We wonder what species they are and even though they may tolerate brackish waters normally found in Ripley Creek, why did quite a few of them die? Was it the 10.0 PPT salinity we measured at that time – both in Ripley Creek and in the marsh in the location of the outlet itself and also behind the parking lot area?

Worm Moon Tide, March 10th 2020

High tide today Tuesday, March 10th, 2020 was at 12:06 PM.  The tide height predicted was 11.6 feet, the highest of the month, coinciding with yesterday’s full and “super” moon at 1:47 PM.  Another super moon will appear on April 8th. These pictures were taken at 12:13 PM.  The drop in height was about a foot in height.  If you look closely on the opposite shore, right at the waterline, there are two bored holes in the rock ledge where iron rod of the old dam structure was fastened into the rock.  The two holes make a good reference for comparison as we less formally observe the tide height.  The speed of the current was astonishing. 

The flow made a huge eddy in the largest (and deepest) “pool” area of the marsh (outlined below).

At the same time the water was rushing into the marsh, the surface waters on the ocean side of Ripley Creek showed very little movement at all.  Keep in mind, the culvert is seven feet in diameter!

Our neighbor in the house bordering Ripley Creek on the marsh side of the road came out to tell us about recent beaver activity.  We saw numerous places along both side of the creek where beaver have been felling or chewing saplings and trees.  She told us they had climbed the bank to the top and taken her forsythia stems.  She thinks they are actively building a lodge in a nearby location and they had sticks and structure across the outlet that has been washed out overnight in the high tides.  We are very interested in documenting the activity of the beavers.

We did measure the salinity with our hand-held probe.  Interestingly, the salinity on the surface continues the pattern of low salinity readings we have observed in the past.  We measured a salinity of 0.94 PPT and 0.52 PPT in the outlet area.  There will be another supermoon high tide of 11.3 on April 9th at 12:40 PM, so stay tuned!!

King Tides

Can you see any structure of the dam to separate what is normally Ripley Creek from the marsh?

High Tide today (October 28th, 2019) was at 12:13 PM.  Dylan measured the salinity of several locations at 12:41 PM.  Here’s what data was collected:

Salinity Measurements:

From the dam/outlet, just inside the marsh:  between 1 and 1.25 ppt.  We wonder if this was because we were measuring at the surface.

From the upstream edge of the culvert in the stream:  10 ppt.

From the edge of of the ocean end of the culvert:  10 ppt.  We wonder why this is so different than at the site of the dam structure, because the outlet was clearly under water.  We actually watched the water flow in to the marsh, then change and flow out of the marsh.

These King Tides were actually predicted for the period of October 26th – 31st, 2019 by NOAA.  From their “High Tide Bulletin” site they explain that these tides are because the moon is at its “new” phase (3% illumination at the time of our observations) and this creates an alignment of the sun and the moon and the Earth with greater gravitational pull in the same plane, and also because the distance between the moon and the Earth, is closer now than at other times in its orbit.  Today, an app we looked at calculated the distance of the moon at 375,019 km (233030.974 miles).

Dylan is interested in how the American Eel, who lives in our marsh and whose elver run is harvested by local elver fishermen may be affected by the brackish waters of our “freshwater marsh”.  We would like to find out more.

Salinity measurement of 10 PPT

Salinity measurement fluctuating between 1-1.25 PPT