HEALTH

12 Days of Christmas: ORCA needs help to keep on truckin' along Indian River Lagoon

Tyler Treadway
Treasure Coast Newspapers

From their home base on the Fort Pierce Inlet, scientists at the Ocean Research & Conservation Association study and report on conditions throughout the 156-mile-long Indian River Lagoon.

Much of that research is hands-on work that requires getting out on the water.

ORCA has a boat to do that, but they need to get the boat to where they're working.

So for their "12 Days of Christmas" wish, the ORCA staff is asking for a truck.

Ocean Research & Conservation Association researchers Chloe Lloyd, left, and Retta Rohm collect water and sediment samples Sept. 29, 2016, from muck traps deployed in the C-24 Canal to determine which nutrients are most prevalent in the muck.

"We could make use of a truck or SUV," said Warren Falls, ORCA's managing director. "Either would need to be rated for towing — some midsize SUV’s are not — with a large enough engine to tow. The newer 6-cylinder vehicles work OK, but an 8-cylinder engine would be better."

The nonprofit's Twin Vee research boat weighs "in the 3,500-pound range," Falls said.

ORCA has one truck, Falls said, "but we have to use personal vehicles or adjust schedules for research and programs that have to use the truck for hauling or towing."

With all ORCA has going on, those schedules overlap a lot.

For example, researchers have been:

  • Maintaining and gathering data from a network of 15 remote-controlled water quality monitors, known as Kilroys, spread throughout the lagoon. The Kilroys provide real-time information about conditions and pollutant levels that can lead to blue-green algae or brown tide blooms.
  • Measuring the toxin levels in fish caught in the St. Lucie River and C-44 Canal during blue-green algae blooms to see if they're safe to eat. (They are, but only occasionally and in limited amounts.)
  • Surveying doctors to see if they're aware of the health threats posed by blue-green algae. (They know more now than they did a few years ago.)
  • Working with students in Indian River County to develop "living shorelines" along the lagoon. 

Because ORCA staffers have to get to the research sites as well, "a double cab truck would be great, but an extended cab would work fine," Falls said.

Ocean Research & Conservation Association logo.

How to help

Who: Ocean Research & Conservation Association

Wish: Pickup truck or SUV to tow research boat

Cost: Unknown

How to donate: Contact Angela Schinske, 772-467-1600 or aschinske@teamorca.org

About this series

​Treasure Coast groups that research, protect and restore the Indian River Lagoon need more than holiday cheer to continue their mission of saving area waterways. Find out what they need — and how you can help them — to continue their work as TCPalm.com highlights a different organization each day from Dec. 25 to Jan. 5, the traditional 12 Days of Christmas.