He'eia coastal ocean observing system

University of Hawaii Center for Microbial Oceanography Research and Education, Alegado lab, Na kila honua o Heeia, Summer 2015

Indigenous aquaculture systems, as a part of the ahupua'a, were able to sustain over 1 million people throughout Hawaii before foreign contact. While working to restore He'eia as a fishing resource and a cultural site, we obtained water quality and nutrient data weekly to monitor how tides, upland farming, and other environmental factors impact the fishpond ecosystem. We measured temperature, salinity, pH, dissolved oxygen, and turbidity at 17 sites throughout the fishpond to map how water quality changes temporally and spatially. We also collected 1L water samples at each site to filter and use for PCR to understand the fishpond microbiome.