After years of decline, minks are now thought to be thriving along the once-polluted Detroit River, a good sign that environmental contaminants in the river are decreasing. Read the full story by Great Lakes Now.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20241009-minks
As the weather cools down, cruise lines operating in the Great Lakes prepare for the end of the season. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20241009-cruise-season
A recent study published in the Journal of Great Lakes Research is the first to compare all 188 nonnative species in the Great Lakes, spotlighting the plants and animals that pose the greatest threat to the region’s delicate ecosystems, fisheries and recreational waters. Read the full story by Great Lakes Echo.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20241009-invasive-species
The USS Nantucket, a U.S. Navy littoral combat ship on its way to Boston for christening, is stopping by Cleveland on the way. Read the full story by The Plain Dealer.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20241009-navy-combat-ship
It’s been decades in the making, but Milwaukee’s South Shore Beach is finally on the move. The $8 million federally funded project is a part of the larger effort to tackle the county’s capital improvement projects involving the lakefront and clean up the Milwaukee River Estuary. Read the full story by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20241009-south-shore-beach
The state estimates one or more pesticides are found in around 43 percent of 800,000 private wells in Wisconsin, and more than half of the pesticides detected aren’t regulated in groundwater by the state or federal governments. Read the full story by Wisconsin Public Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20241009-pesticides
On Oct. 17, the New York Sea Grant, the Town of Evans, New York, and the Lake Erie Watershed Protection Alliance will host an informational meeting to help shoreline property owners, municipal leaders, and natural resource managers be better prepared to deal with the potential for seiche-caused coastal flooding and property damage along Lake Erie. Read the full story by the Observer Today.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20241009-lake-erie-seiche-flooding
A recent study found the total amount of money spent on fishing gear, transportation and food doesn’t truly reflect the worth of a fishing trip to Great Lakes anglers, with anglers willing to spend $100 more than the actual cost. Read the full story by Great Lakes Echo.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20241004-great-lakes-fishing
A new drone technology is set to make big waves in Pollution Probe’s mission to clean the Great Lakes of plastic waste and it’s starting in Ontario’s Lake Simcoe. Read the full story by Global News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20241004-drones-to-clean-lake
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Mussel Watch program is collecting zebra and quagga mussels at sites across the Great Lakes to measure the concentration of harmful pollutants in their tissue. A report will serve to identify areas with high levels of harmful chemicals. Read the full story by Great Lakes Echo.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20241004-noaa-mussel-project
The Great Lakes Fishery Commission will be hosting a screening of the award-winning documentary The Fish Thief: A Great Lakes Mystery at 7 p.m. on Oct. 9 at Michigan’s Cheboygan Opera House. The Fish Thief tells the true story of the fight to save the Great Lakes fishery from one of the most destructive invasive species: the sea lamprey. Read the full story by the Cheboygan Daily Tribune.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20241004-documentary-screening
Dozens of juvenile lake sturgeon with transmitters implanted into them were released into Ohio’s Cuyahoga River on Wednesday. The release of the surgeon into the water is a pilot project for a larger goal of reintroducing the endangered fish into the waterway. Read the full story by WJW-TV – Cleveland, OH.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20241004-sturgeon
Lake Superior is known for its pristine waters, but a combination of nutrient additions from increasing human activity (including farming and development), warming temperatures and stormy conditions have resulted in more frequent blooms of potentially harmful algae. Read the full story by The Conversation.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20241004-lake-superior-agal-blooms
A total of 33 conservation and restoration projects throughout the Great Lakes basin will receive $13.8 million in grants from the Sustain Our Great Lakes partnership, with 11 going to Michigan. Read the full story by Second Wave Media.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20241004-sustain-our-great-lakes
State and local agencies, as well as federally recognized tribes and higher educational institutions, are encouraged to apply for new money the federal government is making available to support phosphorus-reduction outreach and technical assistance efforts in the western Lake Erie basin. Read the full story by The Toledo Blade.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20241004-federal-phosphorus-reduction-money
The H. Lee White Maritime Museum in Oswego, New York, will host “Shipwrecks of Lake Ontario – A Journey of Discovery” by Jim Kennard as part of their History Lecture Series on Sunday, October 20th at 1:30pm. Kennard will dive into some of the most important shipwrecks discovered in Lake Ontario by his team and shipwreck peers. Read the full story by Oswego County Today.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20241004-shipwrecks-of-lake-ontario
Every $1 in federal funding to clean up pollution and other environmental damage to the Great Lakes area yields more than $3 in economic activity, and restoration activities have bipartisan support. Passing the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative Act of 2024 will not only reverse the environmental harms of the past, but is also a critical investment in the future of Great Lakes communities. Read the full story by the Chicago Sun Times.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20241004-glri
Geneva Lake in Walworth County, Wisconsin, has long been known for its clear, deep water and scenic location. And now it has an unwelcome distinction: it is the first Wisconsin inland lake documented with quagga mussels, according to state and local officials. Read the full story by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240828-quagga-mussels
The Sloughs — or Ogaakagonike in Ojibwe — are a series of Wisconsin tributaries chock full of wetlands that are home to the only wild rice bed in Lake Superior. As threats like climate change and extractive industries encroach on Lake Superior, the power of place has never been more important for the Ojibwe. Read the full story by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240828-the-sloughs
Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers announced Monday that his administration is proposing to bring the state’s drinking water standards for PFAS in line with new federal regulations unveiled earlier this year. Read the full story by Wisconsin Public Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240828-pfas-standards
This month, a team of scientists confirmed there are more than 40 sinkholes on Lake Michigan’s lakebed in the Wisconsin Shipwreck Coast National Marine Sanctuary. The sinkholes are valuable natural laboratories that can help scientists learn more about Earth’s early history before there was oxygen. Read the full story by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240828-sinkholes
Although this year’s cruise season is winding down in Cleveland, Ohio, there are plenty of reasons for optimism in 2025. The Port of Cleveland has announced that Victory Cruise Lines is coming back to the Great Lakes after a year-long hiatus, with 30 planned ports of call on the North Coast in 2025. Read the full story by WKYC-TV – Cleveland, OH.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240828-cleveland-cruises
Knox County, Ohio, farmers are among the more than 3,000 producers protecting Ohio’s water quality through the H2Ohio nutrient management program. Farmers will develop and implement a Voluntary Nutrient Management Plan that will reduce phosphorus runoff, a major contributor to algae blooms. Read the full story by the Knox Pages.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240828-h2ohio
A $1.45 million federal project will help communities across Wisconsin, Minnesota and Michigan prepare for floods by building up resilience along the Lake Superior coast and reestablishing the land’s ability to store water and release it slowly. Read the full story by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240828-flooding-grants
Minnesota’s iconic Split Rock Lighthouse on Lake Superior has transformed itself over the last few years. New to the popular lighthouse is a walking tour and a new exhibit on the history of the Native American people who were there long before the 114-year-old tower. Read the full story by Minnesota Public Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240828-split-rock-lighthouse
The largest lake sturgeon in the history of Michigan’s annual state survey was captured last week. The monster fish was 75.2 inches long, or about 6-foot, 3 inches, which made it the largest sturgeon by length that the survey has ever recorded. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240828-sturgeon
A popular Lake Michigan beach in Muskegon, Michigan, is safe for now. Public Health – Muskegon County warned earlier this week that it found toxins from an algal bloom in Muskegon Lake spilling into Lake Michigan, but four tests at a local beach on Friday were at non-detect levels. Read the full story by Michigan Public.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240812-muskegon-lake
Michigan State University’s 1,100-acre livestock research farm is working toward a goal: prove the value of advanced cattle production practices to stem environmental damage while simultaneously enhancing farm financial statements. Read the full story by Michigan Public.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240812-cattle-production
Each summer educators are invited to apply for the opportunity to work alongside Great Lakes scientists aboard a research vessel for a week. A teacher explains how this opportunity helped her take the problems that face Lake Erie back to her classroom. Read the full story by The Allegheny Front.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240812-lake-erie-research-expedition
From lawmakers to environmentalists, about 70 people met in the Wisconsin Maritime Museum on Friday to celebrate successes and address current challenges facing Lake Michigan. Read the full story by WLUK-TV – Green Bay, WI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240812-lake-michigan-day-conference
Michigan Senator Gary Peters visited Sault Ste Marie, Michigan, Saturday where he visited the Soo Locks’ current construction and discussed the $450 million project budget currently under review. View the full story by WLUC-TV – Marquette, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240812-peterson-soo-locks-visit
The University of Toledo has been awarded $459,353 from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences to study algal blooms and cyanobacteria. Read the full story by The Toledo Blade.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240812-ut-grant
Cormorants, a fish-eating bird on Lake Ontario, continue to draw disdain from local fisherman who claim the bird’s populations reduce fishing opportunities. Read the full story by WWNY-TV – Watertown, NY.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240812-cormorants
In an attempt at a solo swim across Lake Michigan, famed Great Lakes swimmer, Jim Dreyer, lost GPS navigation, fought wild hallucinations and spent a night essentially swimming in circles, causing the swim to end short. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240812-dreyer
Two mayors of Wisconsin’s Bayfield County municipalities say that U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany’s proposal to turn the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore into a national park would put an unmanageable strain on the area’s emergency services, housing stock and infrastructure. Read the full story by the Wisconsin Examiner.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240812-apostle-islands-national-park-proposal
The Great Lakes Surf Festival welcomed surfers of all skill levels to explore the waters of the Great Lakes and embrace the region’s surfing community during the 6th annual event held at Pere Marquette Beach in Muskegon, Michigan. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240812-surfing
The Great Lakes, a crucial ecosystem supporting 139 native fish species, face a significant ecological crisis, as the Great Lakes Fishery Commission notes an alarming decline in native fish populations over the past two centuries. Read the full story by the Manistee News Advocate.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240807-native-fish-decline
When an oil spill leached into two Toronto creeks last summer, the cleanup did not go as planned. Despite the efforts to contain it, the spill reached Lake Ontario — a source of drinking water for nine million people. Read the full story by The Narwhal.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240807-toronto-oil-spill-cleanup
Manoomin or wild rice was once very common in coastal marshes along the Detroit River and has always been sacred to Indigenous Nations. Today it is listed as a threatened species in Michigan and the Nottawaseppi Huron Band of the Potawatomi wants to restore this species in the Detroit River and to identify it as an indicator of ecosystem health. Read the full story by Great Lakes Now.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240807-wild-rice-restoration
As of 4 p.m. Tuesday, an alleged alligator remains on the loose in or around the east Erie, Pennsylvania, shoreline. Authorities still have not seen a trace of the reptile but have been keeping watch. Read the full story by Erie-Times News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240807-gator-watch
Lake Erie’s harmful algal blooms have started sooner and had longer peak periods over the past decade compared to earlier years, newly released data shows. Warming temperatures linked to climate change are a cause, according to researchers, with interactions among species likely playing a role as well. Read the full story by Inside Climate News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240807-climate-change-hab
An investigation is underway after more than a thousand dead fish washed up along Tischer Creek in Duluth, Minnesota. Read the full story KBJR-TV – Duluth, MN.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240807-fish-kill-duluth
Researchers at the Philadelphia Water Department Office of Watersheds are looking to utilize and restore native mussels to help filter contaminants in municipal wastewater. Read the full story by Great Lakes Now.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240807-native-mussels
A rare Midwestern earthquake struck in Lake Michigan on Friday. The earthquake, which had a magnitude of 2.9, occurred 25 miles off the coast of Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. Read the full story by The Detroit News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240807-earthquake
Jim Dreyer — who last year fell short of completing his freestyle across Lake Michigan for a second time — plans to try it again. Read the full story by the Detroit Free Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240807-swim-lake-michigan
Some Wisconsinites fear that the expansion of a St. Croix County dairy farm will increase contamination of the county’s water. Under previous ownership, the farm racked up a litany of manure violations, including two major spills. Read the full story by Wisconsin Watch.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240807-dairy-farm
Ten years ago, Toledo shut down its water system because a toxic algae bloom had formed around its water intake structure in Lake Erie. Safeguards are now in place that will prevent a system shutdown from happening again, but a large reduction in cyanobacterial blooms has yet to be achieved. Read the full story by Michigan Public.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240802-toxic-algae-blooms
The Glen Lake Association is on a three-year mission to remove invasive koi from the crystal-clear lake next to Sleeping Bear Dunes National Seashore. Read the full story by Bridge Michigan.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240802-giant-koi
Midwestern states are spending millions every year to prevent invasive carp from entering rivers and lakes. Barriers might slow them down but stopping them completely may be impossible. Officials and researchers think, however, that the creation of consumer markets for silver carp could work to manage their numbers. Read the full story by Michigan Advance.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240802-invasive-carp
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg visited the Port of Milwaukee to highlight federal funding — more than $9 million from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law — that helped upgrade its agricultural export facilities. Read the full story by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240802-port-investments
