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Nature preserve in northern Michigan to more than double

By Matthew Hall | October 16, 2012

 

The Bete Grise Preserve in Keweenaw County, Mich., will more than double by adding approximately 1,475 acres, according to the Healing Our Waters Great Lakes Coalition, an association of environmental groups. A $1.7 million grant from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration made the expansion possible, according to the coalition’s press release. “The grant protects one of the highest quality dune and wetland complexes in the upper Great Lakes…”

The preserve is spectacular, said Evan McDonald, executive director of the Keweenaw Land Trust, a conservation non-profit and a partner on the project. “Places like Bete Grise, with these really healthy, extensive coastal wetland systems are really important ecologically,” McDonald said. “They’re a breeding and nursery ground for young fish, which attracts birds that feed on young fish.

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What is the strangest thing you have found attached to a buoy?

By Matthew Hall | October 3, 2012

 

Hundreds of U.S. Coast Guard fans on Facebook had the opportunity to ask Petty Officer 1st Class William Vaughn about what it’s like tending buoys on the Great Lakes. What is the strangest thing he found attached to a buoy? How does he deal with the smell? Does he still like seafood? Find out here.

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Green building opens at University of Waterloo

By Matthew Hall | October 2, 2012

 

A sustainable building for environmental studies just opened at the University of Waterloo in Waterloo, Ontario. The building is called Environment 3 because of additions built on top of two prior incarnations. It features a constructed wetland to cleanse wastewater, a system to track utility use and a “living wall” to filter volatile compounds from the air. It opened up Sept. 15 as a part of Doors Open, an annual heritage site and architectural tour in Canadian cities.

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Interactive lake monitoring tool to be updated

By Matthew Hall | September 25, 2012

 

Data on rain, snowfall, ice cover and evaporation will soon be incorporated into a new online tool that shows Great Lakes water level fluctuations over the past 150 years. The Great Lakes Water Level Dashboard plots data on a graph that represents water levels of a lake the user designates. Users can even designate all of the Great Lakes at once to see their progression as a whole. But enhancements expected in as soon as a month will show rain, snowfall, evaporation and ice cover, said Anne Clites, a scientist on the project at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory. The tool was released in June to help researchers and answer the public’s questions about lake levels, she said.

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Current forecasting tool can help St. Lawrence boaters

By Matthew Hall | September 12, 2012

An online tool for charting water currents and depths can help St. Lawrence Seaway boaters plan safe recreational trips. The tool pools wind and water data from several U.S. and Canadian research agencies and incorporates them into a forecasting model every three hours, said Riley Young Morse program manager at the Gulf of Maine Research Institute and developer of the tool’s user interface. Boaters can click a point on a computer-generated map of the seaway closest to where they need information. This produces the current water current conditions and forecasts for that area.

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Egg color gives clue to contaminant levels; may be environmental indicator

By Matthew Hall | August 20, 2012

The color of Great Lakes herring gull eggs indicate how contaminated they are,  according to a study in the Journal of Applied Ecology. And that may provide clues about the level of contamination in the surrounding environment. Researchers examined subtle differences in egg color. They found that the more contaminated eggs were less blue-green in color. Contaminants are eaten by birds and passed to their eggs.  The mother also passes on the blue-green and brown pigments found naturally in her body to her eggs, Daniel Hanley, a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Guelph and an author on the study, told the Toronto Star.