For the past several years, Crystal Cove Conservancy has been working with Newport Whales and local junior high and high school students to monitor the water chemistry in the Crystal Cove State Marine Conservation Area (SMCA).  During the Marine Protected Area Science Cruise, students head to sea aboard a fishing vessel called the Western Pride and use equipment to collect water samples and measure the temperature, salinity, and pH of the seawater in the Crystal Cove SMCA.  

Monitoring the trends in the ocean’s water chemistry is important because these abiotic factors can be an indicator of climate change and ocean acidification. Also, changes to these factors can have a direct impact on the animals, algae, and plankton that live in the Crystal Cove State Marine Conservation Area because they are adapted to live in conditions within a certain range. If the temperature, salinity, or pH change too drastically and is no longer within the normal range, some marine life may not be able to survive in the area anymore.

Now, we need your help analyzing the data to see whether the water chemistry in the Crystal Cove SMCA is changing over time!  

For this environmental challenge, you'll take a virtual trip onboard the Western Pride to learn how water chemistry data is collected.  Afterwards, you'll help us analyze and graph the data we have collected since 2015.

If we analyze water chemistry data over the past several years, do you predict there will be annual or seasonal trends in the temperature, salinity, or pH of the sea water?  Before you start analyzing the data, record your hypotheses here.