Hi everyone,

As many of you in the BT community are well aware of, the beautiful reefs of Bonaire are under a real threat from wastewater dumping. There have been a number of threads on this topic recently where people have voiced their concern and asked "What can I do to help"? Well folks, I am happy to announce an exciting new research program for tracking wastewater seepages: The Light and Motion Sensor Program. The program is being funded by donations and carried out by volunteers: it's a labor of love on behalf of the reefs that we love so dearly.

Following is all the information about the program and what YOU can do to help protect Bonaire's reefs.

THE LIGHT AND MOTION SENSOR PROGRAM

Dear Friends of Bonaire,

There is something that everybody on Bonaire – tourists, locals, cruise ships in port – contributes to every day: wastewater. Where does it all go? The ugly truth is that many septic systems are inadequate and that there are locations in the island’s interior where raw sewage is dumped directly into huge open trenches. What happens then? Is this untreated wastewater seeping into the ocean? Many think so, but thinking isn’t enough: we need data in order to demonstrate that in fact this water is seeping into the coastal region and therefore affecting the reef. Only then will there be sufficient evidence to provide a stronger impetus to action.

Wastewater can be a problem because it increases the nutrient load and facilitates explosive growth that can wipe out a reef very quickly. The first step is to locate where the wastewater is being discharged into the ocean. Once it is located it can be tested for nutrients and, if necessary, human only content. Then the source can be identified and hopefully, corrected.

Burt Jones and Tom Reynolds of the Burt Jones Lab at the University of Southern California are currently conducting an experimental test whereby they have supplied STINAPA with low-cost sensors they have used to identify wastewater in Los Angeles. Working with Ramon de Leon, Manager of the Bonaire National Marine Park, two locations have been installed off Klein Bonaire that will monitor temperature and visibility every eight minutes. This is the first step in building a baseline of current conditions so that any changes can be accurately measured. (For more information on their impressive work with the Southern California Coastal Ocean Observing System, go to www.sccoos.org).

What is a sensor set? How does it work? Each set is a string of three temperature/optical sensors deployed on a mooring. The sensors are at depths of three, ten, and 18 meters, monitoring light absorption (visibility) and temperature. At three meters, the sensor measures near-surface light, i.e. sun and cloud cover. The deeper sensors measure differences in light levels between three and eighteen meters. Additionally, each sensor measures the water temperature, which can indicate a variety of processes including upwelling and transport of water from other regions. The data is sampled and recorded every eight minutes. Any difference means the visibility has changed – the question then becomes, why? Was it due to outfall seepage? The optical sensors can indicate decreases in water clarity that could be caused by a number of processes, including the seepage of dumped wastewater.

STINAPA, the BNMP, Burt, and Tom would like to take this research to the next level, which is to install 20 additional sensor sets from Karpata south along the leeward coast. This will be called the Light and Motion Sensor Program. The program’s goal is to look for seepages in order to map potential sources of contaminated water. A website will be created as data is collected.

YOU can help make it happen! Please consider donating to the Light and Motion Sensor Program. For $150 US, you can fund a sensor set. Fund as many as you wish! All donors’ names will appear on the website’s home page. And - you can even name your sensor(s)!

This is a grassroots fundraising effort that needs your support. We can do this!

BNMP has requested that donations be made directly to Burt through his company, Applied Ocean Science, so Burt and Tom can purchase the sensor sets and bring them to Bonaire. 100 % of all monies donated will go toward purchasing the sensor sets; Burt and Tom are coordinating all of this with BNMP for no compensation whatsoever. Not only that, but they have generously offered to assist with data collection and to provide technology transfer.

VOLUNTEERS are also needed! Each sensor location will require a volunteer – a local diver who lives on Bonaire – who will clean the sensors approximately once a week and collect the data every three months. So if you or anyone you know are interested in volunteering, your help would be greatly appreciated and will be an essential part of the success of the program! Please contact Ramon de Leon at BNMP for information on becoming a Sensor Program volunteer.
Phone: 599-717-8444 Email: marinepark@stinapa.org

I hope you agree that this is an exciting program with the potential to make a big difference in the future health of Bonaire’s reefs that we all love so much. Even more exciting, this type of low-cost water quality monitoring program could catch on throughout the Caribbean, where many islands could use it but simply don’t have the budget to afford expensive research equipment.

Please make checks payable to:

Applied Ocean Science
3579 Foothill Blvd., PMB 227
Pasadena, CA 91107 USA

Be sure to write “Light and Motion Sensor Program” on your check. If you would like to name your sensor(s), please write a brief note indicating the name(s) you have chosen, and include that with your check and contact information.

I would appreciate donors letting me know of their participation and also your contact information so I can personally thank each and every one of you. Also, if you have any questions, please feel free to contact me through Bonaire Talk.

THANK YOU!!!

Blue McRight

Blue,

Thanks for alerting the diving community to a way to help perserve our diver's paradise. Since coming to Bonaire for the first time in 2002, we have made the trip at least once a year and will be there in ten days and would hate to think that the coral and fish we love so much would be in risk.

Glad you posted this and we will be sending a check tomorrow to support the cause.

Lydia

Blue,

A couple of questions. Why install sensors so far north verses closer to where the populated area?

Is there any connection with the company Light and Motion that makes camera housing?

What happens if you get more donations that needed for the 20 sensors? What would the additional money be used for?

Is there a phone contact for the people buying the sensors?

thanks,

Michael Stanfield

Lydia - Thank you! Your support is very much appreciated!

Michael,

The idea is to install the sensor sets all along the leeward coast to see how far from dump sites wastewater outfalls may be occurring. If, as is suspected, the substrate is permeable throughout the island, then seepages can occur away from more populated areas as well as near them, and action would need to be taken at those locations to address the problem. This is one thing that the research is going to be looking for.

No, there is no connection to the Light and Motion camera housing company. The team is Burt, Tom, Ramon, and myself along with donors and volunteers- very grass roots.

If there are more than enough donations there are several possibitlites about how the money could be used to expand the scope of this research. These are currently being explored.

If you have questions specifically for Tom and Burt, please send them to me in a separate email and I will be glad to forward to them.

Blue,

An interesting program, for data now and for changes as the new treatment plant(s) come on line, and hopefully other remediation is done at Cargill and the sewer dump at Lagoen. Are you using satellite photographs of the visible plumes along the lee shore in your sensor placement decisions?

Out of pure curiosity, why the 'Light and Motion' name? I had the same question as Michael about the company well known to divers. Even though L&M, the photo gear company uses a '&' instead of 'and' it strikes me that there will be a continuing confusion about the name.

Glen,

Placement of the sensors will be decided by Ramon, Burt, and Tom, and I'm sure they will take into account all the available data when making the placement decisions.

As for the name, it refers to the function of the optical sensors in regard to monitoring of light and water flows (hence "motion").

Sorry for any confusion about the name!

Blue,
I have to admit, I have reservations about donating to people I don't know as opposed to the BNMP or STINAPA. Can you or someone from the Marine Park or STINAPA explain the reason behind this?

I want to help, but I do not want to toss my hard earned money at a group I'd never heard of before your post.

Susan: I had the same concerns that you do so I emailed Ramon today and he has assured me that the program is legitimate. In fact, he stated that the Bonaire Marine Park is going to match the funds that are provided by donors; therefore, I am going to send my $150 check on Wednsday to the address provided by Blue.

Susan,

Thanks for your interest in donating!

I understand your reservation. I suggest that you send an email to Ramon de Leon at BNMP expressing your concern and asking him for confirmation that this program is legitimate. Another donor did this for the same reason you express, heard back from Ramon, was satisfied with the response he received, and is sending a check. Ramon's contact information is in the letter.

Marcus,

Thank you for your support! Your donation is very much appreciated.

Is the donation tax deductible?

Carlea and Geoff,

Sorry but no, like many other charitable donations this is not tax deductible.

I would like to add that Stinapa bought a SONDE underwater sensor array back when Kalli was BNMP. She accumulated lots of data at various underwater locations for wastewater. This data was covering all aspects of wastewater, temp, dissolved oxygen etc etc. There should be a large data base to use at the marine park also. We have most of that data also as a backup here in Ohio in case Stinapa needs comparison data. They still should have the equipment.

Rob,
You have mail

SENSOR PROGRAM UPDATE:

The Light and Motion Sensor Program is off to a great start! As of today, 11 new sensor sets have been funded, with more pledged. The first batch of ten new sensor sets will be purchased and brought to Bonaire this August. Thank you, donors! Your generous contributions are greatly appreciated.

As mentioned in my letter posted first on this thread, the LMSP began as a Pilot Program on May 28, 2007 when two sensor sets, donated by Burt Jones of USC, were installed at two locations off Klein Bonaire. Since then those sensor sets have been delivering data very reliably.

Albert Bianculli, who has been diving Bonaire since 1970, has been a key volunteer in the Pilot Program, doing all the deployment and servicing of the sensors with STINAPA and Yellow Submarine on a weekly basis. Albert will continue to lend his expertise in deployment and maintenance of the sensor sets as the Pilot Program expands into the Light and Motion Sensor Program. Thank you Albert, STINAPA, and Yellow Submarine for doing such a great job!

How soon the first ten sensor sets are deployed will depend on the number and organization of volunteers.

Calling all reef lovers! The Light and Motion Sensor Program needs YOU! Volunteers will be a critical part of making the Sensor Program a success. If you live on island and would like to become involved in this exciting and important new research project, please contact Ramon de Leon at the BNMP for information at: marinepark@stinapa.org

There will be a website created for the LMSP. Stay tuned for more about the website as the program gets underway and data begins to come in.

As always, if you have questions, please feel free to contact me.

Thanks again and keep checking this thread for more LMSP updates!

We held a fund raiser for the sensors and raised approx. $1120...(more money may still be coming). Bill put together a video from the last 4 years (covering 9 trips) featuring the "Best Of Bonaire." Mark Digiorgio, owner of Birmingham's ScubaVentures, supports this project, and he donated the use of his shop, refreshments, and 20% off coupons on anything in his store...including scuba lessons!!!
It was a GREAT evening for a good cause!

I have a related question. There seems to be a need for waste water treatment island-wide. I assume waste water treatment would be a governmental effort on Bonaire as it is here in the US and in the Netherlands. Is it possible to get an update on what plans the local and Netherlands Antilles governments have to modernize water treatment? Thank you for raising awareness on this critical issue. I pledge to make a $150 donation to the Light and Motion Sensor Project.

Hi everyone, Sorry I haven't posted in a while but am currently in Paradise diving, diving, diving! As a matter of fact I am writing this at the Chat n'
Browse! Bill and Donna have done an amazing job with their fundraising efforts!!!!!! Thank you!!!! Thanks to your efforts and those of other fantastic and generous people we are very close to funding all the sensors in addition to having some money to purchase several "replacement" sensors that will be part of a repair kit that goes out on the boat every day when the maintenance and data collection are being done. The research team is very happy to have such strong support. Details are now being worked out about volunteer schedules, website creation, data collection, and a possible Phase 2. I will be back home after August 25th and will write a detailed update regarding the status of donations, etc. Tom and Burt will be on island as of August 18th and are bringing 10 sensor sets with them for the first phase of installation. It will be good for the research team to be all together to discuss the many details arising as the LMSP gets underway!
Thanks again to everyone for your awesome support and generosity.

Hi Bruce, I don't have enough information to answer your question about the wastewater treatment other than to say you are absolutely right. From what I understand there has recently been a contract awarded to a company to build a treatment plant. That is all I know. But let me say thank you!!!! for your interest in donating to the Sensor Program! Please feel free to contact me directly with any questions.

Hi everyone, Burt Jones will be giving a presentation on Wednesday, August 22nd at Habitat beginning at 8:30 pm. This is going to be a fascinating and very informative evening and anyone on-island with questions about the Sensor Program will have a chance to ask them. Please see below for more details. Hope to see you there!

Light and Motion – Establishing a Cost-Effective, Long-Term Reef Monitoring System for Bonaire. By:

Burt Jones


Burt Jones is a professor of marine environmental biology at the University of Southern California. He specializes in biological oceanographic research, investigating the interaction between biology and physical processes in the ocean. He is experienced in establishing ocean observing systems and examining anthropogenic influences on the coastal ocean.

This presentation is the official launching of the “Light and Motion Sensor Program”

Date: August 22, 2007
Place: Captain Don’s Habitat Conference Room
Time: 8:30 pm

Hi everyone,

I would like to bring your attention to an article about the Light and Motion Sensor Program that appears in the current issue of the Bonaire Reporter (August 31 - September 14 issue). The article gives a great overview of the past, present and future of the program. Please check it out! The article begins on page 3 and continues on page 9. Thanks to an incredible outpouring of support from people all over the world, the LMSP is off to a fantastic start! Stay tuned here for more info coming soon.

Hi everyone,

I have started a new thread about the Sensor Program that tells all about the program so far and everything that has been happening. There is a lot of exciting news! So please go to: www.oldbonairetalk.com/newsgroup/messages/30/332851.html?1191263597 and check out the new thread (it's under the Diving topic, title is "Update: the Light and Motion Sensor Program") Thanks again to everyone - and please keep in touch as more great things are happening with the program all the time.

Blue