Underwater Ecology Project

axmaniac · Jan 11, 2010

Hey guys,

I have to do a biology project for school. There is an award, so I'd like to do a good job. I'm planning on doing some sort of an underwater ecology project, but I can't think of any good ideas. The only body of water that I dive regularly is a quarry. (Philadelphia Quarry, Philadelphia, Tennessee, if it helps) There are fish, but they're very skittish.

--Thanks
Grant

Guba · Jan 11, 2010

Please be more specific. What exactly are the parameters assigned to the project?

axmaniac · Jan 12, 2010

It just has to be an ecology project. The teacher's goal is just to get us in the natural world.

Guba · Jan 12, 2010

If fish are few and far between, direct observation could be a problem (doing a species census, etc...). You might try "roping off" a shallow water habitat--perhaps a few square meters--and taking a plant/animal census over a period of time, say the next few months. Document the species, proliferation of specimens, vitality, etc, and you might consider using a photo log for additional documentation.
Just an idea.

Protist · Jan 12, 2010

Some quarries grow types of sponges. You could get samples and describe the structural differences between fresh and saltwater sponges. You can even go as deep as the structure of the spongin proteins. And since structure is different, their way of feeding is different, ect. Countless possibilities with sponges.
Of course to get the data you would need to dive to observe and obtain samples

smellzlikefish · Jan 12, 2010

I might try to draw a connection between substrate type and number of fish seen. Maybe look at the proximity of the fish to the walls of the quarry. Take a reel down, make a transect at a right angle to the wall or over varying substrate, and divide the transect into bins (0-5 meters from wall, 5-10 meters, etc. or by substrate). Swim along it counting the species, numbers, and substrate of fish observed within x meters of the transect.

driftwood · Jan 12, 2010

Talk with your teacher and find out what water quality tests you can run in your lab. Different locations, depths to form a database over time. Not just grab samples, but a series of samples from the exact same locations on a regular basis, say once a week. You don't have to find anything, the effort you put into doing the work right will be time well spent. That is the way science is done in the real world.

BTW, no reason why you cannot do several experiments on a single dive.

Underwater Ecology Project

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