An innovative study that uses biological indicators to assess the health of the ocean off New Jersey shows life on the sea floor is remarkably healthy, even with the stresses of pollution from the Hudson River and naturally occurring ocean upwellings.
The results show a better picture than that portrayed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and state Department of Environmental Protection, which list the state’s ocean waters as totally impaired because of frequent episodes of low-dissolved oxygen.
Those agencies commissioned the Rutgers University study to get a more accurate picture of ocean health, and scientists focused on a very detailed examination of life on and under the sea floor — what biologists call the benthic community.
The resulting “biotic index” rated conditions at 153 sites from 2007 to 2010, and shows how to go beyond traditional analysis of water quality. A similar methodology now is focused on Barnegat Bay — but those findings, due by this summer, are expected to be far less optimistic.
Read the complete article from The Asbury Park Press