Learning Resources for Water Reporters
We just launched a brand new Water Reporter app!
Ready to join as a volunteer Water Reporter or set up the new app? Start by filling out an updated volunteer waiver form. This ensures you will receive Water Reporter notices and invitations to events.
While we are rolling out the new app, we’ve focused our resources on the new app. The resources below are based on the old app. Some of it is still still applies, especially the videos and post types. New resources are to come. Thanks for you patience.
Having trouble? Reach out to Community Organizer and Volunteer Coordinator Sara Freshley at 207-807-0785 of sfreshley [at] cascobay [dot] org.
Thank you for caring about Casco Bay!
Water Reporter learning resources
There are many observations around the Bay we are interested in. We have created resources to help you learn about each. We have also answered commonly asked Water Reporter questions here.
You can reach Sara Freshley with any questions. Get her attention quickly by calling or texting (207) 807-0785 or email: sfreshley [at] cascobay [dot] org.
1. Video Resources
Our Water Reporter playlist on YouTube has a variety of videos from full trainings to quick videos.
How Water Reporters are making a difference
Quick Video Topics
Water Reporter Trainings
Recordings of online get togethers
Wildlife
Share wildlife you see around the Bay
You can reach Sara Freshley with any questions. Get her attention quickly by calling or texting (207) 807-0785 or email: sfreshley [at] cascobay [dot] org.
Algae
Help us track Nuisance Algal Blooms around the Bay
Follow these steps to take part:
- Choose a location to observe weekly, May through mid-November. You can choose one from our suggested sites on the map below or select your own.
- Plan your arrival time so that you have enough time to get to your location and take a photo, or series of photos. The ideal time to take these photos is between an hour before and after low tide. Low tides can be found here: https://www.usharbors.com/harbor/maine/ or on a tide app.
- Make sure to use the location pin to mark your location and share your post with the Friends of Casco Bay group.
- Take your picture! Try to use a landmark to stand next to in order to make your picture as replicable as possible from week to week.
- Add a comment including:
- the presence and absence of algal growth
- the name of your site (while not required it helps others scrolling through the app)
- share if the growth has increased or decreased since your last visit
- the area of the intertidal zone (low, mid, or high) that the algae is growing in
- include the date and time if you are not posting in real-time
- make sure to add #algae. It can be placed in your text or at the end of your comment.
- Examples:
- #algae absent at Southern Maine Community College beach
- Southern Maine Community College beach still has algae present in the middle intertidal zone. The growth has decreased since last week. This image was taken at 9:02 AM on June 2, 2020. #algae
- Get close! In addition to your ‘big picture’ photo, try to get some close-up photos to help us get a better sense of the type of growth. Ensure you stay safe.
- Go back every week – it does not have to be on the same day – to help the Friends of Casco Bay learn more about algal blooms and the health of our Bay!
Location ideas
What’s the big deal with green algae?
In the marine environment, nitrogen jumpstarts the growth of algae and phytoplankton, tiny plants that form the base of the ocean food chain, which in turn nurture zooplankton, clams, oysters, crabs, lobsters, fish, and whales. But too much nitrogen may trigger large blooms of nuisance algae or “green slime,” which can reduce water clarity and lower oxygen levels, making life harder for marine organisms. These nuisance algal blooms may be triggered by excess nitrogen from fertilizers, sewage, pet wastes, and emissions from tailpipes and smokestacks. For more information on excess nitrogen and green algae visit https://www.cascobay.org/our- work/science/nuisance-algal- bloom-tracking/.
Trash
Share trash you see around the Bay
You can help Casco Bay at anytime by completing your own coastal cleanup. See tips about how to do that here. If you do this, consider sharing the results of your pickup on Water Reporter with a summary of cleanup. Use #trash for that as well.
Eelgrass
Share eelgrass you see around the Bay, healthy beds, patchy beds, and large amounts of washed up eelgrass
Extreme low tides are a great time to go looking for eelgrass. That means when we send a reminder to do our #sealevelrise posts during astronomically high tides, during that same stretch of days, you can look for eelgrass during low tides. Share images of these and track them over the season and years.
Erosion
Share erosion you see around the Bay
Report Pollution
Notify us of pollution you see around the Bay
Please note: If you see an emergency along the Bay like a an oil spill, or a stranded or injured animal or person, please contact the appropriate authority. You can find a list of them here.
Sea Level Rise
Help us track how sea levels are rising around the Bay
These two images of Falmouth Town Landing show how repeatable sea level rise images can be. The image on the left was taken by Trish Peterson on February 11, 2020 and the image on the right was taken by Anne Wood on September 22, 2020.
Not only is it happening, sea level rise is accelerating.
Who: You and other Water Reporters around Casco Bay
What: We look to YOU to help us capture images of the unusually high tides that will occur by using the Water Reporter app on your smartphone. These tides are due to changing seasonal weather patterns and the gravitational effects of the Earth, Sun, and Moon.
Additional variables that affect the tides are winds, storm surge, polar melt, and barometric pressure, which can push water farther up the shoreline. With all of these aspects influencing the tides, it is important that we capture images of rising sea levels in Water Reporter.
When: The Northeast Outlook from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)’s seasonal high tide flooding bulletins show when our area may experience higher than normal high tides. Bulletins are updated quarterly and can be found here: https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/news/high-tide-bulletin/. We also send reminders to Water Reporters via email.
Once you identify the days we will have higher than normal tides, high tides can be found here: https://www.usharbors.com/harbor/maine/. (If want to know the observed water level after the fact, see NOAA’s Portland Tide Station page.)
The ideal time to take these photos is during the hour around high tide, from half an hour before to half an hour after high tide. Plan your arrival time so that you have enough time to get to your location and take a photo, or series of photos.
As always, adjust for weather and safety, and follow all State of Maine and Centers for Disease Control guidance regarding the pandemic. Please wear a mask as needed and stay more than 6 feet away from anyone with whom you don’t share a household.
Where: Beaches, coastal parks, and public access sites along Casco Bay are perfect locations. For example: Back Cove or East End Beach in Portland, Fort Williams Park in Cape Elizabeth, Willard Beach, Bug Light and Spring Point Light Parks in South Portland, Mackworth Island in Falmouth, Wolfe Neck State Park in Freeport, Graveyard Point Town Landing in Harpswell, any of the islands in Casco Bay, and many many more places.
Note: If you are at a Portland or South Portland coastal flood monitoring site, you can take part in our partner Gulf of Maine Research Institute’s Coastal Flooding Citizen Science Project. Learn more about our partnership.
How: Use the Water Reporter app. Stand at least two strides up from the water line. Take the photo looking down the shoreline. Include some sort of structure or landmark in your picture, such as a pier, jetty, breakwater, building, or dock, for perspective. This will help you and others take images from the same location and angle in the future. Remember to type #sealevelrise into your post to help us categorize it.
Why: Your photos can help document current coastal flooding, such as eroding coastlines and submerged streets. As sea levels continue to rise, your images will help us all visualize what the “new normal” high tides may look like.
Ensure your safety! No photo, however dramatic, is worth getting injured or swept away! It is especially important to adhere to state and local social-distancing requirements.
Community members have observed the rise in sea level over the years. Coastal communities are experiencing greater storm surges and higher high tides.
Maine geologists are planning for a three to five foot sea level rise along the coast over the next 100 years. On top of the long-term rise, abrupt sea level change on the order of months, rather than years, can also occur.
Sea level rise and storm surges threaten much of the infrastructure — the homes, roads, and water treatment plants — we have built near the ocean. The predicted impacts include beach erosion; landslides; loss of wildlife habitats; and drowned infrastructure, causing more sewage overflows, flooded streets, broken pipes, and costly repairs.
Salt Marsh
Help us track how salt marshes are around the Bay are changing