Nearshore
A cost-effective solution to beach erosion
|
The bay is eroding quickly, leaving the inland vulnerable.
Water
How to be a steward when you’re “Lakeshore Living”
|
When they decided to write a book, Minnesota’s Paul Radomski and Alberta’s Kristof Van Assche originally set out to make their lives a little easier. What they created was an idea manual for lakeshore stewardship.
Water
Zombies promote Great Lakes nearshore environment
|
Birders, boaters, hikers, fishermen, beach lovers, and swimmers all have something in common: They draw attention to Great Lakes ecology through their activities at or near the shoreline. Now they have zombies helping them out. In what might be one of the wackiest and most unorthodox ways of getting people to reconnect with nature, early (cheaper) registration for an event billed as the Lake Eerie (not a typo, folks) Zombie Mud Run ends June 30. The race is Sept. 14 at East Sandusky Bay Erie Metropark in Sandusky, Ohio.
Nearshore
Marsh restoration brings long-missing birds, plants home again
|
Clearing an invasive plant choking Lake St. Clair Metropark yielded impressive dividends: Rare birds and plants have returned. Next up: Diversion and treatment of stormwater that has closed a nearby beach.
Echo
Adopt-a-Beach collects Great Lakes trash and data
|
Volunteers recently collected trash from 243 Great Lakes beaches.
The most numerous piece of litter?
Cigarette butts.
Echo
Proposed changes to Lake Ontario water levels would help wetlands, hurt homeowners
|
The IJC recommends increased water level fluctuation on Lake Ontario to spur wetland health.
Nearshore
Public docks spark conflicts where roads end at water
|
For most people, docks are a way to enjoy the Great Lakes and inland waters. But for townships trying to calm public-private tensions where roads end at the water, docks are a big headache.
Water
Robot week: Triaxus reveals Great Lakes sunken ships and data treasures
|
Editor’s note: This is the second in a series of stories on how new technology is giving researchers a glimpse of the critical nearshore area of the Great Lakes
One of the Environmental Protection Agency’s newest members uses side-scan sonar to look at the watery depths of Lake Michigan. Fanning its sound waves down to the lake floor, it searches for the returning signals bouncing off the bottom in search of bounty–it found a shipwreck last year. But the Triaxus Towed Undulator does more than treasure hunts. Beneath the water, it glides behind the Lake Guardian, the agency’s research vessel. With its quick data collection, the agency can do in days what would otherwise take a year, said Glenn Warren, team leader for the agency’s environmental monitoring and indicators group in the Great Lakes National Program Office.
Water
Robot week: Exploring below the Great Lakes’ surface
|
By Sarah Coefield and Kimberly Hirai
Jan. 26, 2010
Editor’s note: This is the first in a series of stories on how new technology is giving researchers a glimpse of the critical nearshore area of the Great Lakes. Little is known about the currents, fish or bottom of the nearshore area of the Great Lakes. Now, technology is providing researchers a window into what is one of the most productive yet least studied areas of the Lakes. The nearshore stretches from the beach into about 30 feet of water.
Water
Lakes Erie and St. Clair get spring dose of dirt
|
Some Great Lakes watersheds sweating off the winter freeze are sending huge brown plumes of sediment into Lake Erie and Lake St. Clair. But are these smudges, visible in satellite photographs, a sign of spring or a sign that something is wrong? “It’s both,” said the Ohio Department of Natural Resources’ John Matthews on the Lake Erie plume. “It’s normal, but it’s also a function of how we’ve affected stream channels in that watershed.”