So far, I have been doing a literature review on enterococci and other enteric organisms, to learn the characteristics of these organisms and to identify analogue methods used by other researchers. Many of these investigations have given me some insight into the latest procedures used to biochemically and genetically identify all species of enterococci in the scope of my research. I began my research project by processing some of my cultures transferred from water samples from my control site, which is one of the beaches that exceed the recreational water quality standards on the island. (Want to know which one is it??? Keep up with my Eco-blog and I’ll share it with you later)

On this stage of the investigation, team work has being an essential factor in the catalysis of everything that goes around the laboratory. There are multiple moving parts, as all of my partners and I, are working in different assignments that complement each other’s work. We have all come together in a very fluent but extremely bonded unit and this has shown off in the tremendous rate of success that we have experience, even while working with limited resources.

We have collaborated in the construction of a data base of graphs that illustrate the relationship between the concentration of enterococci and the time of the year. This collection of graphs contains information from more than 20 beaches from Puerto Rico that are being monitored by personnel from the “Junta de Calidad Ambiental” (JCA). These graphs have allowed me to identify the sites with the highest population density of enterococci within the monitoring inventory of the JCA. The measurements of population densities are currently being interpreted as being proportionally related to the amount of fecal contamination that it is being introduced to the marine ecosystem by different sources that have not being identified yet. This inferred relationship could not be the reason for these high densities and obtaining a more accurate description of this relationship is one of the goals of my investigation.

 

The high population density of enterococci at the “Balneario de Patillas” is more easily appreciated when the data collected from the water samples is plotted on a graph (Fig. 1). This graph shows that this section of the beach has maintained a population of enterococci above the limit (36 CFU per 100 mL of water sampled) continuously for over six months, during last year. This could be a very alarming indicator of a sustained introduction of fecal contaminants to the affluent water bodies of this marine ecosystem or an acquired capability of enterocci to maintain viability, and of developing growth mechanisms outside of its host’s environment. Considering that the amount of colonies allowed by the JCA to still deem the water source as “meeting with the quality indication standards” is a count equal to or less than 36 colonies per 100 mL of water sampled, this graph raises many concerns about the health risks associated with the exposure to these concentrations of enterococci.