The first year's work will serve to establish a baseline for future studies of the sites. By definition, a monitoring project is a long-term study, and the research will continue after baseline data are gathered. Pollution is one potential agent of change in estuarine fish populations. A likely culprit might be chemicals called nutrients, including nitrates and nitrites, entering the estuary from agricultural lands and other sources. The researchers would have population data on such indicator species, thanks to the monitoring program.
Estuaries are prime habitat for species coveted by commercial fishermen.
Changes in the fish populations in a stream feeding the estuary would affect food webs and natural diversity. Land, water and organisms are all interconnected. And Reserves have special value for scientists. They provide research areas with conditions as close as possible to those unspoiled by pollution and other human activities. Scott Dummitt, a Hampton journalist at the Daily Press , is a volunteer writer for a fair Bay.