On November 8, Milton Academy’s marine science class took its annual field trip to Nahant, Massachusetts. Despite cold and blustery weather, students completed a full day of research. In the morning, students voyaged out to sea on Mysis, a research vessel run by Northeastern University. Milton students sampled water in Broad Sound and off the coast of Nahant to assist with Northeastern’s research project of water quality and marine biodiversity. Milton students took depth profiles of oxygen, temperature, salinity, irradiance and chlorophyll concentration. They completed a horizontal and vertical plankton tow and examined the turbidity of the water. After sampling the abiotic factors, students pulled an otter trawl on the sandy bottom to sample the biodiversity of benthic organisms. Students were taught how to identify the major organisms brought up in the trawl and to perform basic biometrics on these organisms.

In the afternoon, students returned to the Marine Research Center at Nahant, where they collected data on vertical and horizontal transects of the rocky intertidal zone. Using this and data from the morning’s outing, students will report on the waters and rocky intertidal zones of Nahant.