Why Sample?

Sampling helps us to understand the variability and health of the tidal waters that border our communities.  These waters are vital for fishing, clamming, swimming, boating, and the rich variety of local fish and wildlife.  This allows us to see the variation across the estuary, track changes that occur, and identify any areas of concern.  It is also a great excuse to visit some beautiful sites along the coast!

Become a Water Sampler

Contact Ruth Indrick to become a volunteer water sampler or find out more about the sampling program.

rindrick@kennebecestuary.org

(207)442-8400

Learn about sampling

KELT's volunteer water sampling program tests for characteristics like salinity, dissolved oxygen, pH, temperature, water clarity, and phytoplankton.  The sampling program follows specific procedures to gather information about the water. Each characteristic can reveal interesting insights about the estuary.

What We've Found Out about the estuary

Maps! Reports! Data! Learn what we've found out since starting our volunteer water sampling program in 2013.  This section is still a work in progress, and we'll update it as new information and analyses are completed.

Bird Monitoring

Birders of all abilities "adopt" a KELT preserve and report what species they observe throughout the year. This information helps KELT make management decisions. Volunteers also have the opportunity to help KELT staff evaluate potential land protection projects, helping to impact conservation in the estuary.

This program is possible through support from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and the Davis Conservation Foundation.

Why monitor birds?

By monitoring birds year-round in the Kennebec Estuary, you can help us make important decisions about how KELT preserves are used and which lands are important for birds.

How you can help

• "Adopt" a KELT preserve to monitor

• Help assess birds for land protection projects

• Record all of your birding observations in eBird

• Take photos of birds for KELT to use

• Attend a KELT bird walk

• Spread the word!

Learn about bird monitoring & its impact

KELT's Bird Monitoring Program will have direct impacts within the Kennebec Estuary, the work that we do, and in the larger conservation landscape.

Nequasset Alewife Count

Every spring, the alewives migrate to Nequasset Lake to spawn.  Volunteers help us to count the fish that reach the lake each year.  Volunteering takes two hours or less, and volunteers of all ages are invited to take part in this fun community science project.  You can choose to count once in the season or come back many times.

Counting Instructions

Visit this section to find directions to the fish ladder and instructions for how to count.  A copy of the counting instructions will also be posted on the fence at the ladder.

Form to Submit Count Data

Submit your count results using this online form or email to rindrick@kennebecestuary.org

Green Crab Monitoring

Green crabs are an invasive species that threaten clam populations, eelgrass beds, and local marshes.  To find out more about these crabs, KELT purchased green crab traps with the help of a grant from the Maine Outdoor Heritage Fund in 2014.  Since then, these traps have helped to gather information about crab populations in our region.  KELT used them to work with students at Bath Middle School and Woolwich Central School to trap green crabs and document information about their populations each fall.   The Arrowsic Shellfish Committee has borrowed them for a one day trapping effort each summer to get a snapshot of crab populations around the island.  Some Georgetown citizen scientists have borrowed these traps to track crab populations at Heal Eddy, every other week for the past few years. 

What's a Green Crab?

The invasive European green crab, Carcinus maenus, is not always green! There are other features that can be used to identify green crabs.  Various programs around the state and region that are trying to learn more about this voracious invertebrate.

Bath Middle School Trapping

Bath Middle School 7th grade students and teachers spend their fall exploring information about local fisheries.  This exploration includes learning about invasive green crabs and trapping them to find out information about their population and how it changes over time.  Learn more about the student project and their findings.

Annual Trapping in Local Towns

We'll be updating this section with data from local trapping efforts.  More information coming soon!

Tracking Phytoplankton

Billions of tiny plankton are floating in the estuary and Gulf of Maine. These microscopic creatures form the foundation of the food web. They are fun to look at under a microscope and come in many different shapes and sizes. The populations change throughout the year as water temperatures, currents, and nutrients change. A few species of these tiny plankton produce toxins that can make people sick if they happen to eat shellfish that have been eating these plankton. To prevent that from happening, the Maine Department of Marine Resources (DMR) has an extensive testing program. One piece of that program is water sampling stations scattered along the coast. Some of these sites are tested by DMR staff, and some are tested by volunteers. KELT coordinates a crew of volunteers who sample one site off of Bay Point Road in Georgetown. The volunteers sample the site every week from May through October and they report the results to the DMR.

Rockweed Monitoring

KELT is partnering with the Schoodic Institute to collect information about rockweed along the coast using simple, hands-on methods. Rockweed is a common and important seaweed in Maine, and a new program needs volunteers to help gather information about it at sites along the coast. Rockweed monitoring is fun! It takes a couple hours at low tide to monitor a site. Because the program requires some precision, it’s probably best for middle school aged or above. The fieldwork will include walking over slippery rocks and seaweed. At each site, participants gather information about the height, weight, and number of rockweed stems at a series of points in the intertidal zone.

Scientists at Schoodic Institute developed this monitoring program and are hoping to train volunteers up and down the coast of Maine. KELT is helping to rally and support volunteers for this community science program in the midcoast.  

 Search for Smelt & Track Temperature

KELT is excited to be partnering with US Fish and Wildlife Service, Maine Department of Marine Resources, and Brunswick Topsham Land Trust to build a team of volunteers to monitor temperature and smelt in our region. For this program, volunteers adopt a stream site and visit the stream at least once a week during the smelt spawning season (early spring) to see if either smelt or their eggs are present. Because smelt travel at night, the surveys for the fish take place in the dark, by flashlight. The surveys for the eggs take place during the day at low tide. The volunteers also set up small temperature sensors at their site that automatically record the stream’s temperature every 30 minutes.

Maine’s smelt volunteer monitoring program was developed by a team from the Downeast Salmon Federation, the Maine Department of Marine Resources, The Nature Conservancy, and the Gulf of Maine Research Institute to learn more about where smelt spawn in Maine. It is set up as a project through the Gulf of Maine Research Institute’s Ecosystem Investigation Network, and the data local volunteers collect feed into this statewide effort.

The stream temperature monitoring is an exciting addition to the smelt surveys that provides important information about the conditions in local streams where smelt spawning is happening. The volunteer temperature monitoring methods were developed by US Fish and Wildlife Service and KELT, and our smelt volunteers will be testing them out for the first time in 2022.

KELT’s role is to coordinate and support the team of volunteers tracking smelt and temperature in the streams in our local region.