The interface between air and water is its own world. Freshwater biologists, limnologists, name this surface film the neuston, and it has its own special community of creatures. You have probably observed by placing a pencil in a glass of water the effect of light rays being bent. You also know you do not see through the surface layer of water very well thanks to the wind a current ruffling the water surface, as well as the reflected light. To help you, consider an Aquascope , or make a viewing box from a Styrofoam picnic cooler and a sheet of Plexiglas or plate glass from an auto windshield repairer. Toy stores now sell an inflatable model. Any of these will break the water’s surface that deflects the light rays. A waterproof flashlight certainly adds excitement.

Polarized sunglasses will help you see into the water, as fishermen know. They also help block the glare off the water, protecting your eyes from developing cataracts. Similarly, the UV rays can damage our skins. Wear covering clothing and use sunscreen SP 15 or more. Even on an overcast day, you get something like 80% of the harmful rays. Protect yourself. The effects are cumulative throughout your lifetime.

Aquatic organisms use very different adaptations to cope with living in fresh or salt water, but we can use the same equipment to visit either of these watery worlds.

Plankton net

Expensive to buy, $75-100, but better than panty hose on a coat hanger. The cloth is a special weave and stiffness which lets water out while holding the plankton in and funneling them to a collecting container. Experience will teach you how to attach the collecting vial to the cod end( narrow end of the funnel) and how to lower the net bottle-first so you do not rap air bubbles, and how many times you need to “swim” the net through the water, and how not to collect the bottom muck. Rinse the net after each use.

Seine

A roll of fiberglass window screening from the hardware store, with dowels at either end, makes a serviceable foot long seine. One person holds each end of the seine, low to the bottom. Circling toward the other person creates a corral. Yet another person could gently stir the water and weeds inside the circle with a small rake. This seine works especially well in the freshwater emergent pondweed zones and in the seaweed “wrack forests' at high tide.

Fish trap

Put this across the throat of a narrow inlet the night before you excursion. Permits???

Dip nets

Get a small aquarium dip net for each person from a pet store. To make a splendid sieving observation platform for each person, bend a wire coat hanger into a square with the hook as a handle. Staple on a square foot of the hardware store fiberglass window screening and you have a fine "pond paddle&quor;.

Flexible forceps

To transfer specimens to a better viewing place, try gentle flexible tweezers.

Pyrex Roasting baster

A clear roasting baster, a medicine dropper, or a white plastic spoon helps for selecting individual specimens for observation.

Magnifiers, field bowls, and view chambers

See hand lenses and particularly good for tide pool viewing is the 10” plastic folding magnifier . You really enter the creatures' world. Ideally every person has a white Corelle soup bowl. These nearly indestructible, graceful bowls are good for showcasing the specimens for short observation periods.

Bug boxes , plexiglass viewing chambers , or Discoveryscope viewing chambers

are all good to use with a hand lens.

Many of the creatures you will be looking at are delicate, do not like bright light, may overheat, or use up all of the dissolved oxygen, so please do be considerate. Remember to put them back as close as possible to where you found them - and do it before they show signs of distress.

The interface between air and water is its own world. Freshwater biologists, limnologists, name this surface film the neuston, and it has its own special community of creatures. You have probably observed by placing a pencil in a glass of water the effect of light rays being bent. You know you do not see through the surface layer of water very well. To help you, consider an Aquascope , or make a viewing box from a Styrofoam picnic cooler and a sheet of Plexiglas or plate glass from an auto windshield repairer. Toy stores now sell an inflatable model. Any will break the waters surface that deflects the light rays. A waterproof flashlight certainly adds excitement.

Polarized sunglasses will help you see into the water, as fishermen know. They also help block the glare off the water, protecting your eyes from developing cataracts. Similarly, the UV rays can damage our skins. Wear covering clothing and use sunscreen SP 15 or more. Even on an overcast day, you get something like 80% of the harmful rays. Protect yourself.

Books on streamside entomology are well known to flyfishers. Maybe you already are a catch-and-release fisher. Flyfishers have known for some time that a trout is far to valuable to catch only once. And why limit this policy to looking at the top of the food chain? You could catch-and-release phytoplankton, tiny crustaceans, insect larvae, and a colorful variety of small fish on which the large fish prey. With your plankton net you’re nearly guaranteed a catch. It’s not quite TROUT UNLIMITED, but THE PLANKTON SOCIETY would link you to a global community of aficionados and you could contribute scientifically valuable data to research efforts. Plankton are pretty. Visit the California Academy of Science’s collection of diatoms and see for yourself. MOLLUSC Society etc.

But don't miss half the fun. Go out an get wet. See 'em live!

The pond or stream you visit is very likely to be a popular place for humans to visit. These “high-share” areas place special responsibilities on us. We can all become AMBASSADORS FOR WATER QUALITY. We no longer accept that our country’s waterways are appropriately used as sewers.

Or do we? Or doo we? What do you do with your body wastes? For the latest scoop on poop see the book How to Shit in the Woods ( ) and check out the BAGGIE DOO SYSTEM. Fish trap Put this minnow trap available from hunting and fishing stores across the throat of a narrow inlet or simply toss it into the pond the night before your excursion. You will need to check your state’s regulations about possibly needed collecting permits or a fishing license. As with the seine, take special care not to ruffle the fishes’ scales, and always put them right back where you got them. People have caused ecological disasters by carelessly transferring bait fish, zebra mussels, or pond weeds into a water system.

• Do it yourself.
• Do it now.
• Do it right.