PROVIDENCE — The researchers called themselves “The Insomniacs,” because they would take boats out on Narragansett Bay after midnight to measure oxygen levels in the water when they were at their lowest.
The late-night work — a collaboration by Brown University, Save The Bay and other groups to track conditions that are crucial to the health of native fish and mollusks — started in 1999 with a group of volunteers. It continues now (mostly during daylight hours) with the help of federal grants, but a key funding stream from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is due to expire at the end of this year.
“Either we just don’t do it anymore, or we do it through volunteers again,” said David Murray, a senior research associate at Brown University in geology and environmental studies.
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