Hi all,
The estuary continues to freshen with the 2020 spring deluge. Surface water salinity at station 140 near Oriental is only about 5. The tip of the salt wedge is still just below New Bern at station 50, and the estuary is highly stratified from there to the mouth. Bottom waters were hypoxic from station 50 to 140. A broad surface bloom extended from station 60 to 120. This is likely the same dinoflagellate bloom of Gyrodinium instriatum from two weeks ago. I’ll take a look when I’m in the lab next and will post a correction with the next report if I’m wrong. With the rain still falling, the estuary will likely stay very fresh, and the hypoxic zone may expand without some serious wind mixing.
Best regards,
Nathan