Sampling the Vaal River

In the winter Pretoria is dry and chilly, and that's what the weather was like when we left to go sampling. We drove through some of the industrial areas in the area. Along the way, we also saw huge piles of waste from the mines, there were grey ones and brown sandy looking ones. The first sampling point of the Vaal River was at a point called Kommandonek. The shore line was very rocky and the water clear and flowing. We collected different types of critters, and there seemed to be an abundance of them. The second sampling site was quite the opposite. We had already had difficulty in finding a site that allowed us comfortable access to the water. We found this at the River Dew Pub. The pub was next to the water and on the other side of the river there were what looked like residential houses. As we went about our business, Rob B. a.k.a Jr. on this trip found a dead cat floating under a jetty next to the pub. There were weeds in the water and it looked murky. Tristan was able to get some nice sediment cores though which was a little more difficult at the first site.