The above photo captures the last day of our patrol season! On board we had—in addition to Soundkeeper Bill—our water quality scientists Peter and Elena, our intrepid attorney Kat, and friend-of–Soundkeeper Matt, showing off his propeller-driven underwater drone camera. Together we spent a very cold day documenting and taking underwater videos of water pollution sites in the Bridgeport area and the bottom of Black Rock Harbor.
Then it was time to put both our water quality monitoring boat and the Terry Backer Soundkeeper patrol boat to bed for the winter.
We patrolled for 7 months this year with about 40 days on the water. We covered the entire Sound with special focus on sites in the Western Sound—that’s west of the line running from Bridgeport to Port Jefferson. There were rolling thunderstorms all summer, which delayed a lot of our trips but we hope to spend more time out there in 2019.
Next year we will be upgrading our patrol boat from a 21’ center console open skiff to a 25’ pilot house with the ability to weather rougher seas, a bunk for extended patrols, and even an onboard bacteria lab. The original Terry Backer will be transferred to the water quality team in Westchester and be available for Soundkeeper patrols in the Western Sound.
It was a productive year sniffing out pollution, sampling for microplastics, and picking up dozens of mylar balloons.
Enjoy some highlights!
- Read about early-summer Soundkeeper patrols
- Hear about the damage a West Haven sewage leak was causing before Bill got it fixed
- See underwater video from Bridgeport and learn about the challenges facing Black Rock Harbor
Happy Holidays!
Soundkeeper Bill and Save the Sound