Fig. 9. Bioluminescent ratio (BLR) of bacteria communities from three estuarine sites in Chatham County (Georgia, USA): Richardson Creek at Oatland Island (•), Wilmington River at Thunderbolt Yacht Sales marina (), and the Skidaway River at the Skidaway Institute of Oceanography main dock () were compared with the regression predicted bioluminescent ratio of bacterial communities from the Satilla River estuary (). BLR_SATILLA = (salinity x 0.0125) – 1.21; r² = 0.73. The bioluminescent ratio from each of the sites in Chatham County was measured from September 1999–March 2000. The bioluminescent ratio of bacterial communities was determined from 6–7 December in the Satilla River. Error bars represent one standard deviation of the mean.