Echo

Guns get gobies, traps capture crayfish and other invasive species

By |

Nestled in the northwest corner of Michigan’s Lower Peninsula, the Grand Traverse Bay has had declining native fish populations for decades. And all-too-common perpetrators are largely to blame — aquatic invaders. But a new federal and state partnership seeks to bolster the popular bay’s native fish populations. Officials will use traps and seismic guns to clear rusty crayfish and round gobies off of spawning reefs, where they hang out and eat fish eggs. “We are trying to give the native species a helping hand,” Lindsay Chadderton said in a prepared statement.

Echo

Most read Echo stories of 2011

By |

It’s been another fun year of providing Great Lakes environmental news here at Great Lakes Echo.

And, while we love every story equally, here are the most read stories of 2011.

Echo

Gray wolves in western Great Lakes region no longer endangered starting next month

By |

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has removed gray wolves in the western Great Lakes region from the federal endangered species list. The western Great Lakes region includes Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota and portions of North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana and Ohio. The delisting takes effect Jan. 27. State departments will manage wolves after the delisting.

Echo

Pay attention to the end without the stinger

By |

Next time you’re about to scowl at a wasp, think again. Researchers at the University of Michigan found that paper wasps, Polistes fuscatus, learn each other’s faces the way humans do. The study was published in Science. Researchers showed the smart little buggers pictures of other paper wasps, caterpillars, shapes and computer-altered pictures. They set up a maze that required the wasps to choose the right image  to find a pathway  through it.

Echo

River advocates hint at de-listing for annually chastised Chicago River

By |

Every year American Rivers lists America’s Most Endangered Rivers, and every year the Chicago River is one of them. Well, that may change in 2012. American Rivers posts periodic updates about the dubious rivers they shame every spring, and the river advocacy group now says the Windy City’s twisting stream of sewage is cleaning up its image — and water. For years the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District has spewed bacteria-filled sewage into the river without disinfecting it by using ultraviolet light, which kills the germs. The EPA and environmental groups pushed the city for years to add the disinfection step — a step that almost every other major city does. But the notion was that no one used the river.

Echo

Research to examine possibility of powering Great Lakes ships with natural gas

By |

Great Lakes ships may be getting natural gas makeovers. Researchers with the Great Lakes Maritime Research Institute will soon study converting steam-powered ships to natural gas, using either compressed or liquid natural gas as primary fuel sources. The team is also working with the Lake Michigan Carferry Service to determine the possibility of converting the controversial S.S. Badger to natural gas. From mid-May through mid-October, the S.S. Badger travels between Manitowoc, Wisc., and Ludington, Mich., every day. The monster vessel is the only coal-fired steamship operating in the U.S. and has come under fire from environmentalists because, as Echo reported, it emits nearly four tons of toxic coal ash into Lake Michigan with every trip and has been under an Environmental Protection Agency order since 2008 to fix its pollution problem by 2012.