A Day in the Life of the Hudson and Harbor

October 16, 2018

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Beczak Columbia Refractometer
FerryPoint Schoharie data
pipefish
In 2018 we celebrated our 16th year by expanding our name to 'Day in the Life of the Hudson and Harbor' to recognize the wide group of samplers from the lower estuary. Through the years we have worked with over 50,000 students, teachers and environmental educators studying the river at more than 100 riverfront sites, measuring salinity, chemistry, turbidity, biology and sediments. Over 30,000 fish from 79 different species, representing one third of the 228 species documented to data in the Hudson River watershed have been netted! What a whirlwind of learning! To the left is a photo of northern pipefish from salty Ferry Point Park, the most slender fish in the estuary. Above are students working with fisheries staff sampling larger fish in a Hudson tributary.

October 16th arrived with a cold snap and significant winds that pushed the tides so far out that wide expanses of mud greeted students in many sampling locations. A totally saturated watershed, soaked from over a month of rain, which in many places represented levels double and even triple thirty year averages, pushed any run off from recent rain events straight into the river. Additionally, a saturated watershed means contributions from groundwater may have also contributed to what was the freshest river we have seen in our 16 years of running this event. Much of the watershed provided water samples with salinities so low that they were below the detecable limits of our sampling (31 ppm). The salt front (100 ppm chloride) was located @~ RM 24 between Piermont and Dobbs Ferry. The day surprised lower estuary samplers as the run off from recent rains was enough to override the salty incoming tides, so that in many locations late morning and afternoon sampling on an incoming flood tide posted lower salinities than the morning ebb tide! In addition to affecting the salinity the recent rains had pushed down pH and D.O. in many locations, although strong winds helped offset some of the drop in D.O. levels. All the data shows an active, dynamic system.

*Grey designates a HS or undergrad partner site

Site Names/Locations

Site Data (word or xls) Site Data (pdf)

Site Names/Locations

Site Data (word or xls) Site Data (pdf)
Files by Parameter Hoosick River, Hoosick Falls High School Hoosick Hoosick

Nyack Memorial Park AM Liberty ES

Liberty ES RM28 (xls)

Liberty ES RM28

Sites & Participating Groups

Schoharie Creek, Middleburgh HS

Mohawk Drainage Mohawk Drainage

Nyack Memorial Park PM UNES

UNES RM28 (xls)

UNES RM28

Tabbed Masterfile of all items below (xls) Niskayuna Lock 7, River Run Community Mohawk River

Mohawk River

Piermont Pier, Piermont RM25.s4 RM25.4
Below: Parameter files by pdf

Hudson Crossing Park

RM200 RM200 Matthiessen Park, Irvington RM25 (xls) RM25
Physical Factors

Peebles Island - HS

RM154 RM154 Dobbs Ferry RM23 RM23
Turbidity Peebles Island - ES RM154 RM154 MacEachron Park, Hastings RM22 RM22
Tides Green Island Park, Green Island

RM153

RM153

JFK Marina, Yonkers RM19.5 RM19.5

Currents

Hudson Shores Park, Watervleit RM152 RM152 Alpine Boat Basin, Alpine NJ (Alpine) RM19 RM19
Salinity (student reported)

Rensselaer Boat Launch, TVHS & Delaware School (AM)

RM146 RM146 Beczak,Habirshaw Park, Yonkers RM18.3 RM18.3

Salinity Standardized /collected water samples

Corning Preserve, Albany RM145.5 RM145.5 Inwood Hill Park, Harlem River (Kingsbridge Acad) Hrl RM14 Hrl RM14

Chemistry - D.O. & pH (also Nit/Phos/Alk)

Rensselaer Riverfront Park RM144.5 RM144.5 Englewood Boat Basin, NJ RM13 RM13

Fish Catch

Papscanee Preserve RM140 RM140 Englewood Boat Basin, NJ, PascackHS RM13 (xls) RM13
Macroinvertebrate Catch Henry Hudson Park, Bethlehem RM138 RM138 Fort Washington Park RM11.5 RM11.5
  Schodack Island RM133.4 RM133.4 Pier 125th St., NYC (HSMSE) RM10 RM10
  Nutten Hook Unique Area RM 124.5 RM 124.5

Pier 125th St., NYC, Columbia Secondary

RM10 RM10
  Riverfront Park, Coxsackie RM123

RM123

Pier 125th St., NYC, Boat Sampling RM10 RM10
 

Athen Riverside Park, Athens

RM117.5

RM117.5

79th St. Boat Basin, Clearwater RM7.3 RM7.3
Hudson Waterfront Park, Hudson RM117 RM117 Pier i, 59th Street - Riverside Park RM6.8 RM6.8
Cohotate Preserve, Athens RM115 RM115 Hudson River Park Pier 84 AM RM5.6 RM5.6
Lasher Memorial Park, Germantown RM108.5 RM108.5 Hudson River Park Pier 45 (NYSWD) RM3.2 RM3.2
Saugerties Lighthouse, Saugerties RM102 (xls) RM102 Hudson River Park Pier 45 - (Lab HS)

RM3.2 LHS

RM3.2 LHS
Falling Water, Glasco, Ulster RM100.5 RM100.5 Hudson River Park Pier 45 - (NYU) RM3.2 CHS RM3.2CHS
Tivoli Bay South, Redhook

RM98

RM98 Hudson River Park Pier 45 - (NYU)

RM3.2 EHS

RM3.2 EHS

Ulster Landing Park, Saugerties

RM97

RM97

Hudson River Park Pier 40 RM2.9 RM2.9
Kingston Point, Kingston RM92 RM92 Morris Canal Basin, New Jersey RM0.5 RM0.5
Esopus Meadows, Ulster Park

RM87

RM87 Randall's & Ward's Island HrlRM1 HrlRM1
Norrie Point, Staatsburgh

RM84.5

RM84.5

Concrete Plant, Bronx River (Pelham HS) BrxRM4.5 BrxRM4.5
Quiet Cove, Poughkeepsie RM78 RM78 Concrete Plant, Bronx River (Bronx HS) BrxRM4.5 BrxRM4.5
Marist Waterfront, Marist College RM 76.5 RM 76.5

Hunts Point, Bronx River

BrxRM4 BrxRM4
Waryas Park/Fallkill Poughkeepsie RM76 RM76 Little Bay, Fort Totten Park, East River ER RM15.2 ER RM15.2
Chelsea Boat Launch, Wappinger Falls RM65 RM65 Ferry Point Park, East River (KIPP) ER RM13.5 AM ER RM13.5 AM
Riverfront Park, Beacon RM61.2 RM61.2 Ferry Point Park, East River (West Bronx) ER RM13.5 AM ER RM13.5 AM
Long Dock, Beacon RM61 RM61 Ferry Point Park, East River (Renaissance) ER RM13.5 AM ER RM13.5 AM
People's Waterfront & Boat Launch, Newburgh RM60.5 RM60.5

Gantry Plaza, East River

ER RM5.7 ER RM5.7
Dennings Point, Beacon RM60 (xls) RM60 Hunters Point, East River (MS) newsletter ER RM5.6 (xls) ER RM5.6
Plum Point, New Windsor RM58.1 RM58.1 Solar One, East River ER RM4.9 ER RM4.9
Cornwall Landing RM57 RM57 Brooklyn Bridge West-East River - ER RM2.3 AM ER RM2.3 AM
West Point, South of Gee's Point

RM52

RM52 South Street Seaport ER RM1.9 ER RM1.9
Garrison Landing, Garrison RM51.5 RM51.5 Brooklyn Bridge Park East - East River ER RM1.7 ER RM1.7
Riverfront Green, Peekskill RM43.5 RM43.5 Governor's Island, Manhattan

NYH-1

NYH-1
Verplanck, Steamboat Dock RM41

RM41

Valentino Pier, Red Hook AM

NYH-2.3

NYH-2.3

George's Island RM40 RM40 Bush Terminal Park, Brooklyn NYH-3.7 (xls) NYH-3.7
Stony Point Seawall/ Point Marina RM39 RM39 Pier 1 Lighthouse Museum, Staten Island NYH-4.5 (xls) NYH-4.5
Haverstraw Bay County Park

RM38 (xls)

RM38 Bay Ridge Veterans's Memorial Pier, Brooklyn NYH-4.7 NYH-4.7

Croton Point Park, Croton-on-Hudson

RM35 (xls)

RM35

Canarsie Pier 2 groups MS & HS - no data submitted NYH-5.3 NYH-5.3
Louis Engel Park, Ossining RM 32.5 RM 32.5 Dubo's Point, Rockaways NYH-7.1 NYH-7.1
Hook Mtn. State Park Steps, Clarkstown North HS RM30.5 (xls) RM30.5 Fort Wadsworth, Staten Island NYH -7.5 NYH -7.5
Lower Nyack Beach, Nyack - Blue Rock RM30.4 RM30.4 Kaiser Park, Brooklyn NYH-8.6 (xls) NYH-8.6

Nyack Memorial Park

HS RM28 (xls)

HS RM28

Coney Island Pier, Brooklyn NYH-9.1 NYH-9.1

 

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