Every five days, the Pamlico-Tar River Foundation takes its boat out to do educational studies on Mother Nature’s impact on the river.

Matt Butler, PTRF environmental projects manager, captains the Riverkeeper boat around the Pamlico River to the Basic Observation Buoy near the railroad bridge in Washington.  The BOB calculates wind speed, air and water temperature, conductivity, salinity and the pH balance of the water.

The buoy helps to give PTRF river data in short and long term range. The BOB also gives Butler information on the river during storm events.

“It gives us all things to show the condition of the river and also helps us determine if there is an algal bloom or other things going on in the river at different times,” said Butler.

During the April 25 tornado, the BOB was in the water. PTRF is still reviewing what was happening in the water during those moments the tornado crossed the river into Washington Park.

“It can tell us air speeds and different meteorological data that we can use,” Butler said. “We can use it as a base line so we know what’s going on.”

PTRF teams with the Coastal Studies Institute to teach school-age children about the river. PTRF has oversight of one of 10 BOBs in North Carolina waterways and team with the University of North Carolina system.

The kindergarten through twelfth grade program began as a way for students to learn and become engaged in their communities.

“Education is one of our missions at PTRF and so this will be posted on the Internet and allow teachers at local schools to upload the data,” said Butler. “It’s real data from a local water body that they can use to do different experiments in classes and other educational opportunities.”

The PTRF does not use the data as scientific research because it’s for educational purposely, according to Butler.

A future goal of PTRF is to have a kiosk inside the North Carolina Estuarium to show the data they calculate, according to Butler.