Did You Join the Chilmark Pond Foundation Community Briefing? If not…
- 18 hours ago
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Chilmark Pond Foundation Community Briefing Highlights
On Thursday, April 16th Chilmark Pond Foundation held a community briefing and presentation that discussed the 2025 LG-Sonic Buoy results, dredging updates and a preview of our 2025 Chilmark Pond Ecosystem Monitoring report.
One of the most popular topics on people’s minds is the 2025 Buoy results… here are some highlights!
The LG Sonic Buoy was launched on July 23rd 2025. This buoy is a tool meant to reduce the growth of cyanobacteria. The buoy was installed in the middle pond of Chilmark Pond ecosystem. This area is often where we see Dolichospermum, a genus of cyanobacteria, bloom throughout the field season. The buoy stayed in the middle Pond for about 3 months before being removed for the winter season.
Did the buoy reduce cyanobacteria?
Short Version of Results:
It appears that the buoy did work, however, not until late in the season.
After cleaning the sensors and allowing the buoy to function properly, we saw that it likely caused sudden and faster dissipation of the bloom compared to past sampling years.
The bloom was not less intense or shorter in duration.
Comparing the data throughout the years since 2022, the number of days the Dolichospermum bloom was present was not fewer in 2025, in fact it was present 14 more days in 2025 than in 2024. Bloom concentrations during its presence in 2025 was not lower compared to previous years. However, we are very hopeful that the buoy will be more effective with modifications and adjustments in this upcoming 2026 season. This includes putting the buoy in earlier in the season to disrupt the start of the bloom growth and removing bio-fouling weekly.
Bloom dynamics in Chilmark Pond changed.
Although we were still seeing Dolichospermum, a type of cyanobacteria, in 2025, the form of it changed where the buoy was present. We often saw Dolichospermum take a coiled shape when observed under the microscope in previous years. However, in 2025 the filament was straight.
Conclusions
1. Buoy may not have been deployed early enough to disrupt blooms
2. Bio-fouling needs to be manually removed, regularly
3. Buoy when functioning properly, likely caused sudden dissipation of bloom
2026 Plan
1. Deploy buoy in April, pre-bloom season
2. Clean buoy weekly
3. Monitor pond & buoy
4. Compare cyanobacteria blooms from previous season to full-season deployment
5. Hope we have even better news for you come fall 2026
Watch the full presentation and discussion to learn more in depth about these results of the buoy!
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