Researchers inspect Gulf water on seven-day voyage

Reporter: Elizabeth Biro Writer: Paul Dolan
Published: Updated:
Researchers will inspect the waters in the Gulf to see how Ian affected it. (CREDIT: WINK News)

When exactly will our water be safe, allowing people to return to the beaches in Southwest Florida?

Researchers are about to set sail on a seven-day trip to discover what the hurricane did to the Gulf waters.

The W/T Hogarth is a 78-foot research vessel that’s owned and operated by the Florida Institute of Oceanography.

On Tuesday, researchers from FGCU and the Sanibel Captiva Conservation Foundation will take off on the trip to study the waters and how Hurricane Ian affected them.

The team will look at various things, such as nutrients, pollutants, reefs, etc. But the big concern, for the time being, is harmful algal blooms.

Hurricanes often fire up blooms as massive amounts of rainfall and flooding carry on-land nutrients out to coastal waters, and the blooms then feed off these nutrients.

WINK News will join the researchers and travel with them as they do their important and unique work for the Southwest Florida community.

The goal is to share their observations on how Ian affected the waters and what it means to the people in Southwest Florida.

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