Did you know there is a network of water quality monitoring stations in the Hudson River whose data are available to the public? The Hudson River Environmental Conditions Observing System (HRECOS) is an environmental monitoring network that collects high-frequency water quality and weather data in and along the river.
This data is publicly available in near real-time online.
HRECOS data can help shed light on river conditions, such as how this year’s drought and warming waters have brought some unusual fish species into the Hudson River.
In Yonkers, the Sarah Lawrence College Center for the Urban River at Beczak (CURB) has documented much higher salinity levels this year than last.
This much higher than average salinity has resulted in some interesting tropical strays turning up in CURB’s seine net including a crevalle jack, northern stargazer, and spotfin mojarra. These are all first-time catches for the Yonkers location.
Additionally, they have caught 5,100 comb jellies (ctenaphores) this year, nearly 4,000 more than their previous annual high. This species has been linked to warm water conditions.
Illustrations, from above: A crevalle jack; and graph showing higher salinity levels this year (blue) than last year (brown).
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