On July 27th, 2024, SAVE Coastal Wildlife partnered with AYLUS Raritan Valley to offer an opportunity for volunteers to help members of SAVE Coastal Wildlife conduct various tests and a fish survey in the waters of Cedar Street Park.
First, volunteers tested the waters visibility. They did this using a Secchi disk, a small black and white circle. By lowering the Secchi disk into the water and seeing how far it would have to go for it to not be visible anymore, we measured the visibility in the water here to be 14 inches deep. Because of the murkiness of the water, the visibility was abnormally low, but this did not stop wildlife from thriving. The members of SAVE Coastal Wildlife first explained important rules, such as wetting your hands before touching any fish so that we don’t harm their protective coat. Following the other plans, volunteers placed bins along the beach and filled them with seawater to store any ocean life we caught. Volunteers used seine nets and waded into the water to cast them, slowly walking back to shore and catching many sea critters in the process. A majority of the fish we caught were a species called Silversides. They are undoubtedly the most common species in this area, as each and every of our casts consisted mostly of Silversides. Other fish species that we caught included Menhaden, a type of forage fish; Lookdowns, a tropical fish; Peanut bunkers, a bait fish; and a Cunner, a common coastal fish. Additionally, we caught a few lively shrimp and also a few crabs. After gathering all the ocean life in each net, we recorded the amount and type of the ocean life we found. That is how members in SAVE Coastal Wildlife keep track of the waters variety of species. After we finished all of our seine net casts, we packed up and put all of the fish back into their homes in the water.
Overall, all volunteers had fun gathering and discovering our little ocean friends that were hiding in the murky water. AYLUS will continue collaborating with SAVE Coastal Wildlife to ensure that we stay informed and up-to-date on information about local beaches and the wildlife they are home to.
Written by Colin Hou
Hours:
Colin Hou (leader): 1.5 hours
Ryan Hong (leader): 2 hours
Xiaowen Kang: 1.5 hours