Surveying the Harbor

Water ecology scientists William Lopez and Zoe Bisiani prepare to lower a piece of oceanography equipment during a recent outing.

Our Harbor Survey is a longterm program that assesses the effectiveness of various water pollution control operations each year by measuring the quality of New York Harbor waters. These areas include the Hudson River, Harlem River, Upper and Lower East River, Western Long Island Sound, Upper and Lower New York Bay, Arthur Kill, Kill Van Kull, Jamaica Bay and their tributaries.

Utilizing the Osprey, a specially equipped vessel outfitted with a small onboard laboratory, marine scientists visit and sample a total of 84 sampling stations harbor-wide. These sites are sampled on a weekly basis during the summer season (May–October) and monthly during the winter season (November–April). During a testing, a large apparatus known as a CTD-Rosette sampler is lowered off the back deck of the boat using a winch. Collected water samples are then processed and checked in the onboard lab for a wide variety of parameters including dissolved oxygen, pH, salinity, fecal coliform, enterococci, ammonia, etc. Testing (and the return of whales, dolphins and seals) confirms that New York Harbor is cleaner and healthier today than it has been since the Civil War!