A U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service assessment crew will be working Aug. 16-26 in Douglas County, Wisconsin to estimate the abundance of sea lampreys in the Amnicon, Poplar, Brule and Middle rivers. Read the full story by The Superior Telegram.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220808-lamprey
An invasive silver carp was removed earlier this week after it was found swimming in Lake Calumet on the Far South Side, the Illinois Department of Natural Resources announced Friday. Read the full story by the Chicago Sun Times.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220808-carp
New York State is beginning a $1.6 million project to restore and increase wetlands at the Woodlawn Beach State Park in Blasdell, NY. Read and hear the full story by The Buffalo News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220808-wetlands
Ohio State University professor John Lenhart will be using a $150,000 grant to test drinking water in Cleveland, Ohio and surrounding areas for tiny bits of plastic. Read the full story by The Plain Dealer.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220808-plastic
Piles of dead alewives – tiny, silvery fish – are lining the beaches of Lake Michigan, rolling in wave by wave. Read the full story by WGBA – TV – Green Bay, WI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220808-alewife
While there are thousands of known sites of contamination across the country from hazardous waste dumped or not properly secured by manufacturing facilities and landfills, the ones government officials consider the most dangerous are called Superfund sites. Read the full story by WXYZ – TV – Detroit, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220808-pfas
Centuries after the war of 1812, the U.S. Brig Niagara, a replica of the U.S.S. Niagara, brings the history of the Battle of Lake Erie to the Festival of Sails and many other locations. Read the full story by WDIO – TV – Duluth, MN.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220808-niagara
An annual effort to clean the waters of Marquette’s Lower Harbor is returning Saturday. For the fourth straight year, the Great Lakes Scuba Divers and Lake Preservation Club is holding its Underwater Cleanup. Each year, divers from the U.P. and even the Midwest have come to the Lower Harbor to pick up tons of tires and other junk at the bottom of Lake Superior. Read the full story by WLUC-TV – Marquette, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220805-scubadivers-marquettesharbor
Bottles, bottle caps, straws, lighters, beach toys, bags, and dental floss picks. All these items have one thing in common — plastic bits and pieces washed ashore on the beaches of the Great Lakes. In collaboration with SEA LIFE Michigan Aquarium inside Great Lakes Crossing in Auburn Hills, Royal Oak, artist Hannah Tizedes spent over a year collecting trash from the Great Lakes to create a six-foot-long mosaic of repurposed plastic. Read the full story by The Oakland Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220805-royaloakartist-trashintotreasure-greatlakes
Scenic road trips just got supercharged as the Midwest works together to create an electric route along the Lake Michigan shoreline. The Lake Michigan EV Circuit Tour will be a network of electric vehicle chargers spanning over 1,100 miles of drivable shoreline around Lake Michigan. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220805-lakemishoreline-electicroute
Green algae scum is visible along Magee Marsh Wildlife Area’s shoreline, as scientists have bumped up their Lake Erie Harmful Algal Bloom (HAB) severity seasonal projections this week. NOAA’s National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science and its research partners originally predicted a severity of 3.5 on a scale of 10 in late June. Wednesday, NOAA revised its projection and now expects a bloom with a severity of 4.5 with a range up to 5.5 due to model uncertainty. Read the full story by Fremont News Messenger.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220805-lakeeriealgaebloom
Rock snot, officially called didymo, was the centerpiece of the underwater research the DNR recently conducted in Lake Superior. Rantala and several other DNR researchers, fisheries biologists and members of the state agency’s aquatic invasive species unit traveled to Grand Marais in late July to collect samples from the bottom of Lake Superior. Read the full story by WTIP – Grand Marais, MN.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220805-lakesuperiordive
Toxic algae in lakes and rivers is a growing problem for cities, pets, swimmers and fishers — and, increasingly, the farmers who are causing it. Harmful algal blooms are becoming a regular summer feature around the country, thanks to fertilizer-laden runoff and hot water temperatures. NOAA estimates algal blooms have cost coastal economies $1 billion over the past several decades in lost recreation, tourism and seafood harvesting. Read the full story by POLITICO.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220805-toxicalgae-perennialcrop
“Tremendous progress” is being made to restore and protect the Great Lakes from the impacts of toxic chemicals and the introduction of non-native invasive species. That’s according to the authors of a joint report issued by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Climate Change Canada on July 29. Lake Michigan was assessed as “fair” and “unchanging.” Read the full story by the Manistee News Advocate.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220805-binationalreportstateofthelakes
Positioning wind farms offshore has proven successful in oceanic waters off Europe. Some say it has never been done in freshwater lakes and should not be tried on Lake Erie. Oceans are excellent for siting wind farms; freshwater lakes are better. The absence of corrosive salt water, oceanic tides, storms, and great depth give lakes the edge. Read the full story by The Buffalo News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220805-lakeeriewindfarm
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Trash Free Waters Program paid for the UW-Oshkosh Marine Debris Mitigation Project boat that is helping to clear the waters of the Great Lakes. It’s Wisconsin’s first aquatic trash boat. Read the full story by Door County Pulse.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220805-boatcleansgreatlakes
Muskegon is one of 27 Great Lakes ports that are welcoming passengers back after cruises were grounded for two years due to the pandemic. Pent-up demand and the growing popularity of Great Lakes cruises are making this a record-breaking year and bringing millions of dollars to local communities. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220805-cruiseshipsmuskegon
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration will launch a robotic Uncrewed Surface Vehicle in Lake Erie to help with Great Lakes monitoring and is asking the public to keep their distance. Read the full story by The Toledo Blade.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220803-drones
Advocates for the Mississippi River are hoping that a proposed federal funding program, modeled after the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, could assist with river restoration efforts. Read the full story by WWNO – New Orleans, LA.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220803-mississippi
In Ohio, decomposing algae at the bottom of Lake Erie has led to recurring problems with discolored water reaching the taps of some Cleveland Water Department customers, which is an issue the department is now looking to remedy. Read the full story by The Plain Dealer.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220803-discolored-water
A Chicago man recently completed his 1,400-mile biking journey around Lake Superior, which is the last of the five Great Lakes he has biked since starting his journey twelve years ago. Read the full story by WLUC-TV – Negaunee, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220803-bike
Great Lakes’ water temperatures usually mimic summer air temperatures, but Lake Superior has remained cooler than average. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220803-water-temperature
With federal authorities limited in their ability to require power plants to substitute fossil fuels with other energy sources, state efforts in New York will need to ramp up to reduce future climate risks to the Great Lakes. Read the full story by Spectrum News Buffalo.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220803-power-plants
The Michigan Department of Natural Resources reports that 73 nests were observed this year and 65 of those nests hatched, giving this threatened species hope for recovery. Read the full story by WZZM-TV – Grand Rapids, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220803-piping-plovers
The nonprofit organization Sturgeon for Tomorrow and a team of fishery biologists have been working together for seven years on the Sturgeon-in-the-Classroom program to engage students through community science to help reintroduce lake sturgeon in Great Lakes tributaries. Read the full story by Great Lakes Now.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220803-sturgeon
As some species recover from past population declines, the rise in their population has the adverse effect on other Great Lakes threatened species. Read the full story by The Associated Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220803-species
In the first six weeks of 2022, seven earthquakes were recorded in the eastern basin of Lake Erie. Over 200 earthquakes have been recorded since 1776 in Ohio, mostly around Lake Erie. Scientists are working on figuring out what is causing them. Read the full story by Great Lakes Now.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220801-earthquakes
Of the many tools used in the fight to bring Great Lakes piping plovers back from the threat of extinction, the common household feather duster might be the most unexpected — and adorable — of them all. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220801-piping-plovers
The Monroe County Health Department received preliminary positive results this week from testing of a suspected blue-green algae bloom in Lake Erie at Michigan’s Sterling State Park and Luna Pier Beach. Read the full story by The Monroe News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220801-algal-bloom
This year’s annual Minnesota Department of Natural Resources fish survey of Lake Superior found a strong lake trout population and is a good sign of the lake’s reclaimed productivity after decades of damage caused by blood-sucking sea lamprey that are now being controlled. Read the full story by the Duluth News Tribune.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220801-lake-trout
Ohio’s Davis Aerospace and Maritime High School students spend classroom time on a barge, helping to make an impact on Lake Erie and the Cuyahoga River. Read the full story by WKYC-TV – Cleveland, OH.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220801-argonauts
After six decades of being buried underground, Serson Creek, or one of Mississauga, Ontario’s “lost Rivers” once again flows into Lake Ontario. Read the full story by Insauga News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220801-mississauga-river
In addition to updating major infrastructure needs, the Michigan Department of Natural Resources is more than halfway through a two-year pilot project that applies structured decision-making to assess the resilience of the Au Sable River in the face of existing and emerging threats. Read the full story by The Alpena News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220801-au-sable-river
The task force charged with finding a solution to a pollution problem threatening Lake Superior whitefish and lake trout has identified a plan that members said could save a valuable spawning reef off the Keweenaw Peninsula. But the plan already faces major obstacles. Read the full story by The Detroit News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220801-buffalo-reef
The Lake Michigan basin is down about eight inches from just one year ago (July 2021) but is currently still nine inches above its July average. Read the full story by WXMI-TV – Grand Rapids, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220801-water-levels
The Great Lakes Coalition will hold its annual membership meeting at 10 a.m., Saturday, Aug. 13 at the Haworth Hotel on the campus of Hope College, 225 College Ave. All persons interested in the Great Lakes, whether members of the Coalition or not, are invited to attend. Read the full story by the South Haven Tribune.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220801-great-lakes-coalition
In the fifty years since the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement was first enacted, large efforts have been made to clean up and restore the Great Lakes but there is still more to accomplish. Read the full story by Canadian Geographic.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220729-great-lakes
The Michigan Supreme Court has ruled in favor of a group focused on preservation of the areas around the mouth of the Kalamazoo River, allowing the group to argue in circuit court against a proposed development that would impact Michigan’s coastal dunes. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220729-dunes
As climate change continues to make a milder Michigan winter, more Canada geese are becoming full-time residents, opting to stay in cities over the winter rather than flying further south. Read the full story by Great Lakes Now.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220729-geese
The newest freighter to ply the Great Lakes began her maiden voyage yesterday; a trip from Wisconsin to Michigan’s Upper Peninsula to load stone that will be used to make ready-mix for making concrete. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220729-cargo-ship
A U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service assessment crew will conduct work on the Oconto River to estimate the abundance of sea lampreys, as the river is considered a “regular producer” of sea lampreys which migrate out to Lake Michigan. Read the full story by the Green Bay Gazette.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220729-oconto
With major ports along the US east and west coasts struggling with cargo backlogs due to knock-on effects from supply chain issues, shippers are looking to long-ignored ports in the Great Lakes as a way to get supplies into and out of America. Read the full story by the BBC News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220729-shipping
Thanks to a team effort among: Keep Ohio Beautiful, The Ohio Department of Natural Resources, Ohio Sea Grant and The Ohio Clean Marinas program — devices called “seabins” are being installed in marinas from Huron to Geneva, Ohio. Read the full story by WKYC-TV – Cleveland, OH.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220729-seabins
Sustainable and inclusive development of the St. Lawrence River is precedent, as development in its current form will have a negative consequence for the people and the environment of North America. Read the full story by The Conversation.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220729-st.-lawrence-river
According to The Ohio Wetlands Association, Ohio has lost more than 90% of its wetlands, largely because of agriculture, real estate development and the expansion of recreational areas. The Nature Conservancy is working hard to protect the ones that are left. Read the full story by Spectrum News 1.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220729-wetlands
Mike Shoreman, who said he wants to become the first disabled man to cross all five Great Lakes on a paddleboard, crossed Lake Michigan on Tuesday and overnight into Wednesday and is now one step away from completing his quest. Read the full story WDIV-TV – Detroit, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220729-paddleboarder
The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy announced that the City of Flint’s water system’s lead level is higher than the previous 6-month period result. Despite this, the lead level is still below the federal action level of 15 parts per billion. Read the full story by WPBN-TV – Traverse City, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220727-flint-lead
The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources recommended that all water systems in the state be tested for PFAS chemicals. The DNR is providing free, voluntary sampling projects for municipal water systems across the state. Read the full story by WKBY-TV – La Crosse, WI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220727-pfas-testing
American eels, once abundant in tributaries to Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River, are now listed as endangered under Ontario’s Endangered Species Act. Known to the Algonquin people as Kichisippi Pimisi, the American eel has been an essential part of Algonquin culture. Restoring the Kichisippi Pimisi is essential to re-establish the ancestral connection between them and the Algonquin people. Read the full story by MuskokaRegion.com.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220727-eel-restoration
While tourism helps the Northern Michigan economy thrive, the region’s popularity can have an impact on its lakes. Solutions such as boat cleaning stations are helping the region’s residents take care of their water systems. Read the full story by The Petoskey News-Review.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220727-tourism-impacts
