We also used a Wards Nitrate test kit to double check the accuracy of the Aquarium Pharmaceuticals test kit. We filled the Wards test tube up with sample water, on the fifth sample taken, and placed the testing chemicals into the water, and then let it sit for ten minutes, to allow for full color development. This test came up with the same readings that our others test had. We used these methods each time we took a sample of the water column. We repeated each of these steps nine times.
Oceanographic properties change over very short time intervals along the coast.
Tides move in and out, birds come and go, and phytoplankton can move in and out with currents as well as the tides. At eight a.m. when we first arrived at Huntington Pier we observed that the Red Tide engulfed the entire pier. The water had a rusty muddy color due to the high concentration of dinoflagellates. At this boundary there appeared to be floating debris and bubbles that raced the front side of the Red Tide. At ten a.m. the water once again was back to normal color where we were located, but at the end of the pier the Red Tide had remained.