Echo
Carp bomb: Conspiracy theories
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I know this Asian carp looks shocked, but I heard that he helped Jack Ruby sneak through. Don’t forget to join in on the carp bomb fun. Read all about it here.
Echo
In a stretch, EPA chief compares oil spill size to Great Lakes
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EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson name-dropped the Great Lakes recently while checking out the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. According to a Los Angeles Times blog post, Jackson flew over the spill and later said at a meeting in New Orleans that “it’s like all five of the Great Lakes and the Great Lakes are oil sheen.” It’s good to know that the lakes are still on Jackson’s mind throughout this disaster, but her comparison is a bit of a stretch. The Associated Press reported Sunday that the spill is roughly the size of Puerto Rico, which has a total land area of around 3,500 square miles. That’s only around 4.3 percent of the Great Lakes’ surface area of 80,500 square miles.
Echo
Carp bomb: Rocket-propelled plantation
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In July 2008, Iran launched a provocative test of a few missiles and released an photograph of the occasion. It didn’t take long for folks to figure out that the image had been digitally altered to include more missiles than had actually launched. What’s even more nefarious is that some sleuthing by Echo’s Flickr friend outside perspectives shows that Iran wasn’t really launching missiles at all. You can shut down all the locks you want, but that won’t stop a rogue state’s rocket-propelled plantation of Asian carp (click for all the carp news we could find). Echo is still looking for more carp bomb (literal or otherwise) submissions from readers.
Echo
Biologists talk carp: Basin separation, Great Lakes deep vs shallow water
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Some Great Lakes biologists forecast a mostly cloudy future for the Asian carp. The open waters of the Great Lakes are too cold for silver carp to digest food and reproduce, said Gerald Smith, professor emeritus with the University of Michigan’s Ecology and Evolutionary Biology department and author of the Guide to Great Lakes Fishes. That’s good news for the part of the $7 billion Great Lakes sports fishery supported by deep water fishing for salmon and trout. If the carp thrived, they could pull the rug out from under the deep-water food web. But the bad news is that the lakes’ warmer near-shore area and tributary rivers, as well as the western basin of Lake Erie, are more likely to support an Asian carp invasion.
Echo
Canada leads U.S., 3-1, on Great Lakes pollution hot spot cleanups
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The rise of the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative in the U.S. has begged the question: what is Canada doing to restore its 2,904 miles (4,797 counting islands) of Great Lakes shoreline? The Toronto Star, Canada’s biggest newspaper, asked that of its own government in a February editorial responding to the states’ $2.2 billion Great Lakes plan:
“So, where is Canada’s plan?” they ask. “Troublingly, it seems our federal government is not nearly as concerned about the health of the lakes.” But, sweeping strategic plans aside, Canada actually leads the U.S. on Great Lakes restoration in at least one measure.
Echo
Carp bomb: Beach landing
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Frank Dutiri sends us this carp bomb, which perpetuates a few themes that have emerged from our submissions so far: Asian carp (click for news) are big, and have a taste for human young. But this big boy strikes another sinister, unsettling tone with me. We’re so worried about all the plankton that’s going to get sucked into those big mouths. But if they’re executing beach landings like this, what the heck is going to come out? Don’t forget to make your own Asian carp bombs and submit them Great Lakes Echo.
Echo
Carp and Compacts: Two big retirements affect Great Lakes policy
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Last week brought two big retirement announcements with Great Lakes political implications. The first came from U.S. Rep. Bart Stupak. The Michigan Democrat recently found himself in the center of the health care debate because he threatened to break with his party and vote against the bill over abortion rights. Stupak eventually voted for health care reform. But in 2008, Stupak broke with both parties and cast one of only 25 votes against the Great Lakes Compact, an agreement between the Great Lakes states that prevents most water diversions and promotes water conservation.
Echo
Carp bomb: Harvesting for carp cuisine
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There’s been some buzz around the “If you can’t beat em, eat em” Asian carp control strategy. One Chicago alderman wants to use carp to feed the poor. Others argue that the Asian carp diet is no replacement for policy- and infrastructure-based eradication. Either way, carp bomb Flickr group member Joel has proof that the anglers of Manistee, Mich. are ready to provide the raw material to get the carp cuisine rolling.
Echo
Report: Voluntary farm runoff regulations don’t work
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State programs for regulating and preventing farm runoff are falling short, according to a new report (PDF) from the Environmental Law and Policy Center and Mississippi River Collaborative. Farm runoff is a problem because it carries nutrients like nitrogen and phosphorus from fertilizers into lakes and bays. Once there, the nutrients can contaminate drinking water or fuel algae blooms that muck up beaches. Bacteria that break down dead blooms use up oxygen and leave behind dead zones where wildlife can’t breathe. State programs to control runoff don’t work as well as they could because they are either underfunded or aren’t mandatory, the report says.
Echo
Satellite Watch: Spring changes on Lake Erie
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A month of satellite images of Lake Erie shows a dramatic transformation.
Check out this series of images that starts with an ice-covered lake that quickly cracks apart.
As the days progress you can see the annual spring mixing of fine-grained mud that is stirred from the lake bottom and suspended in the water column.