How are fouling organisms affected by

tidal action?

GROUP 21Owen Bescherer, Hannah Taylor, Sam Most, Teresa Willander, Kylie

Michaels

• Various organisms that live on wetted surfaces like barnacles, algae or seaweeds.

• Live by affixing themselves to a surface that is regularly or permanently submerged.

• Feed off the plankton and scraps that float by.

• If left unchecked fouling organisms can cause problems by eroding and jeopardizing the integrity of structures.

]\

What are fouling organisms?

Site 1a

Salinity (ppt)± 1%

Dissolved Oxygen (ppm)± 0.2 ppm

Temperature(°Celsius)±0.4 °c

11.7 6.9 62.1

h

Population Density (organisms/opening)

Higher-up organisms seemhealthier, all below are dried up.

Site 1a: fouling organisms

Bottom 63

Top 157

Site 1b: Opposite Side

Salinity (ppt)± 1%

Dissolved Oxygen (ppm)± 0.2 ppm

Temperature (Celsius)±0.4 °c

12.5 7.2 62.1

Population Density (organisms/opening)

Organisms on bottom of pylon seem dead.

Site 1b: fouling organisms

Bottom 32

Top 104

Site 2a

Salinity (ppt)± 1%

Dissolved Oxygen (ppm)± 0.2 ppm

Temperature (Celsius)±0.4 °c

12 7.1 62.1

Population Density (organisms/opening)

At the bottom of this pylon, green seaweed was found among the fouling organisms. Also, the organisms appeared noticeably larger than those at the previous pylon.

Site 2a: fouling organisms

Bottom 123

Top 78

Site 2b: Opposite Side

Salinity (ppt)± 1%

Dissolved Oxygen (ppm)± 0.2 ppm

Temperature (Celsius)±0.4 °c

12.2 7.2 62.1

Population Density (organisms/opening)

Similarly to site 2a, it’s opposite side had larger and healthier-looking organisms, accompanied by seaweed.

Site 2b: fouling organisms

Bottom 32

Top 104

Graphs

• In general, there were more organisms found at the top of the pylons.

• Dissolved oxygen and salinity remained relatively constant throughout the different sites, as did temperature.

• The third site we examined, pylon 2a, had more organisms on the lower part of the pylon. This was different from the rest of our data, with no visible correlation between the factors we tested.

• Our data was inconclusive on the relation between salinity, DO, temp. and amount of fouling organisms.

Conclusions