Day in the Life of the Hudson and Harbor - October 14

New York State Department of Environmental Conservation
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Hudson RiverNet
News from the Hudson River Estuary Program

Day in the Life of the Hudson and Harbor

A bird's eye view of 3 students in waders stretching out a seine netToday, October 14, shorefronts along the Hudson River and the piers of New York Harbor are busy with activity as thousands of students armed with seine nets, minnow pots, and water testing gear collect data on the Hudson’s fish and invertebrates, track the river’s tides and currents, and examine water chemistry and quality, during DEC’s 19th annual A Day in the Life of the Hudson and Harbor. DEC Facebook Live is stream seining activity from two sites: Swindler Cove in New York City and Norrie Point Environmental Center in Staatsburg. The live streams will be available on DEC's Facebook page for several weeks.

New York students from elementary through college partner with DEC and environmental educators to collect scientific data using hands-on field techniques to capture a snapshot of the A young boy wearing a mask holds a tube of colored water.river’s ecology at more than 60 sites along the Hudson. The data collected by students provides insights into an ecosystem spanning 160 miles of the Hudson River and New York Harbor and is posted online after the event. Participating classes represent the diversity of the school population in urban and rural communities along the estuary. This year, over 3,800 students and educators from more than 68 schools are participating.

More than a field trip, “Day in the Life” gives students the opportunity to don waders or use a fishing rod to collect data on many of the Hudson’s 200-plus species of fish. Most are young fish, evidence of the Hudson’s importance as a nursery habitat. Some years students catch surprising fish like seahorses, conger eels, and needle fish. Students also examine the physical and chemical aspects of the river with a wide range of equipment such as dissolved oxygen and pH kits, to high-tech refractometers and simple plastic hydrometers to measure salinity and find the salt front – the leading edge of dilute seawater pushing up the estuary.

"Day in the Life” is sponsored by DEC’s Hudson River Estuary Program, in partnership with the Hudson River National Estuarine Research Reserve and the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University.

A line of students wearing waders stand in the Hudson with a seine net.