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on May 12 to 3000-5000/ml by May 14. Many chain forming diatoms,
Skeletonema costatum
and
Thalassiosira sp.
were also observed.
Figure 3. Phytoplankton abundance separated by dinoflagellates and diatoms (>10um) among
validation trials.
5. Conclusions
This validation study demonstrates that the MERC
Cape Washington
test facility itself is
not a significant source of mortality or loss of planktonic organisms as they pass through the
system during the evaluations of ballast water treatment systems. The results also demonstrate
that ballast water is split equally in the control and treated lines and ballast tanks, both during
filling and discharge. While there are several logistic challenges in conducting land-based tests
on an active vessel, these results confirm that MERC evaluations provide unbiased and
challenging biological (abundant and diverse plankton) and physical (high suspended material
and dissolved compounds) conditions for treatment system testing.