Phillipsdale Landing
The Phillipsdale Landing sondes have been deployed for the season since May 9th, 2023 utilizing a new setup allowing staff access to the equipment from the boat instead of standing on the dock. During the month of October, sondes were changed out for routine maintenance on October 10th and 24th.
Surface DO remained above the hypoxia threshold all month. The bottom waters were hypoxic periodically throughout the month, with the longest sustained hypoxic periods (8 hours) occurring in the early morning of October 14th. DO averaged 8.4 mg/L at the surface with a minimum of 4.9 mg/L, while bottom waters averaged 5.5 mg/L with a minimum of 2.3 mg/L.
Chlorophyll readings were relatively low all month with a couple of moderately elevated readings in the bottom waters. The surface and bottom readings averaged 1.1 µg/L and 1.5 µg/L, respectively.
Bullock Reach
The Bullock Reach buoy was deployed June 1st for the 2023 season. During the month of October, sondes were changed out for routine maintenance on October 3rd, 17th, and 31st.
DO remained above the hypoxia threshold all month at the surface, middle, and bottom and averaged 7.7 mg/L, 6.7 mg/L, and 5.8 mg/L, respectively.
Chlorophyll readings ranged from low to elevated, with evidence of moderate phytoplankton blooms occurring throughout the month and some highly elevated (>200 ug/L) chlorophyll levels at the middle sonde throughout the day on October 16th. Readings averaged 6.5 µg/L at the surface, 18.3 µg/L at mid-depth, and 3.1 µg/L at the bottom.
Please note that data from the Bullock Reach Surface sonde were not available between 11:15am on October 21st and 9:15 am on October 24th due to an equipment issue.