Better the second time around!

Hello, my name is Jose Quan. I’m a returning intern at the Division of Environmental Quality and my job is to conduct water quality profiling around the CNMI.

My towing sidekick, Andrew Moses, explained to you in a previous article about the same ongoing project. In simple terms, we call it human trolling. Two ropes are attached to the rear of the boat and at the other end of the rope, a sensor and a manta-board are attached. By holding on to this board, my job is to ensure that the sensor is completely submerged within the water in order to retrieve quality data.

Compared to last summer, this summer was more exciting because tows were being made within depths of 30-40 ft along the cliff sides of Saipan and Tinian. Last summer consisted of tows within the lagoon and those tows were pretty boring. Besides dodging coral heads and avoiding irritating sea grass beads of Enhalus, the variety of fish I witnessed consisted of schools of baby rabbit fish and your occasional mafutis, along with your bright colored porites within the lagoon. Once you jump over the reef, you enter the territory of the “Big Ones.”

Depending on where you are towing and how deep it is, the coral and marine life can vary. This summer, I saw large snappers, turtles, a couple of sharks, and my worst fear, a school of barracuda. Without the many dangers in mind, Andrew and I retrieved data from the northwest side of Tinian, Lau Lau Bay, and specific areas throughout the Saipan lagoon.

By creating a water quality map of the CNMI, marine biologists like Peter Houk and John Starmer will be able to analyze where an excessive amount of freshwater is being dumped into the ocean. A lot of this freshwater contains non-point source feces from domesticated and wild animals on Saipan, along with possible leaking septic tanks or illegal dumping of harmful liquids. When polluted freshwater mixes with the ocean water, an excessive amount of nutrients causes the algae in the water to grow at an unbalanced rate. When this happens, the algae grow so fast that it upsets the balance within the habitat, resulting in a decreasing rate of coral growth. Some areas that have this type of effect would be beaches around the Garapan area and the Lau Lau bay area. The excessive polluted rain water could result from the topography of the island, meaning that all the freshwater output begins from Mt. Tapochao running down both sides of the mountain. In Garapan’s case, it is the most industrialized area of Saipan, resulting in more pollution.

By working as an intern, you can learn a lot. Working at DEQ for the second time, I have learned a tremendous amount of information about the ocean. By doing reef flat surveys, inner and outer lagoon tows, and data entrees, I have learned more about the environment in which we live in and useful skills one would need in the office.

Currently, I am attending Santa Clara University pursuing a business degree in marketing. Along with that, I also plan to minor in graphic design and begin taking some science classes like chemistry and biology. Once I graduate from college, I plan to pursue a marine biology degree elsewhere and then return home, hopefully working for DEQ and helping preserve our beautiful marine environment.