One of the things I do is volunteer once a month to take water samples at local beaches. There are a number of us who volunteer to do this. Among us We manage to cover quite a few beaches.
The samples are taken to Ramey School, the local school for families of federal personnel, miltary, Coast Guard, Homeland Security, Border Patrol, etc. stationed here. One of the teachers, as a science project for his class. has students test the water samples for various bacteria.
A number people, even though they do the sampling, kind of see it as an imposition on their time. Yes, it takes an hour or so. You have to drive around a bit. But it is important. Through these samples we get a baseline and running record of water quality and dangers at the beaches. Temporary changes in bacteria levels are common. Heavy rain can change them as can heavy use like on holiday weekends. If there are big changes or long-term changes, that could indicate problems. Without this on-going record, we might not catch the problem until it's too late to do anything about it.
To me, an hour or so a month and a couple of dollars for gas are a small price to pay for knowing what's happening in our ocean. I volunteer a little bit of time to make something in my world better. that's a great moment.
And it gets me out and to some beaches I don't normally go to, like the one above, Sardinera. Every time I go there, I wonder why I don't go more often. That awareness beyond my usual boundaries is a good thing.
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