ISLAND PACKETT (Bluffton, S Carolina) 08 July 06 Reptile research probes water quality (Peter Frost)
Bluffton: Most times, when Joe Maffo and his band of alligator wranglers from Critter Management get called for an assignment, it's a sign that all is not well.
But last month at Palmetto Bluff, the exclusive private community on the May River, Maffo and his pals weren't working to control a nuisance alligator. They were lending a hand in an important daylong research project in which they rounded up as many of the water-dwelling reptiles as possible for testing.
Environmental health researchers from the University of South Carolina and the state Department of Natural Resources used the community as a sampling grounds for testing the effect of alligators on water quality.
"Usually I'm called in when there's a problem," Maffo said. "But that day, we really had a good time. None of the gators were aggressive, and it was catch and release. It was a real hoot."
The team collected about 15 alligators, swabbing each for stool samples that indicate the amount and types of bacteria contained in the animals' waste.
Bacteria from animal waste is a leading polluter of waterways, lagoons and coastal waters. Scientists are trying to get a better handle on the impact of increasing development along South Carolina's coasts on bacteria levels in local waters.
"We're finding that as people build on the coast, it's forcing alligators away from their natural habitat and into manmade stormwater ponds and lagoons," said Michelle Johnston, a graduate student conducting the research for USC. "And with a large number of alligators confined to these stormwater ponds, (the ponds) are just acting as a cesspool for bacteria."
Johnston also took several water-quality samples from lagoons and waterways. She's in the process of measuring bacteria levels and types in hopes of finding the effects of the bacteria in alligator waste through extensive lab analysis.
Stormwater ponds are intended to filter out bacteria and other pollutants following rains so that the tainted water doesn't flush directly into nearby saltwater estuaries, which are important breeding grounds for shellfish and other marine wildlife.
And because Palmetto Bluff abuts acres of saltwater and has a high concentration of alligators, managing stormwater runoff is especially important, Johnston said.
"Stormwater ponds are what's thought of as a best management practice," she said. "But we're finding that maybe these ponds aren't the best thing to deal with filtering toxins."
She hopes the research can help create a better understanding of how best to deal with pollutants seeping into water.
The project is the first of its kind for alligators. But for Palmetto Bluff, these research studies are part of its goal as an environmentally sensitive community.
Since it was founded in 2000, Palmetto Bluff has been home to a number of environmental projects -- some fairly routine, others bordering on the strange and unusual.
The neighborhood also is home to an ongoing project to implant snakes with radio transmitters to track their movements as development in the community continues.
The three-year study will monitor snake populations and migration habits, using them as an indicator of environmental health and sustainability.
"One of the things we do is continuing environmental research, and we are in a great place to do it," said Patty Richards, director of the Palmetto Bluff Conservancy, a nonprofit whose goal is protecting the community's natural resources. "It's really interesting research, and we're really excited to be a part of it."
Reptile research probes water quality