By Joshua Kim
Water quality experts are using DNA tools to track down contamination responsible for beach closures and reduced recreational opportunities along the Great Lakes and other Michigan inland lakes and streams.
Nearshore
Chasing thundersnow: Students join scientists in electrifying lake-effect storm research
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By Julia Belden
From November 2022 to February 2023, scientists – and a small army of undergraduate research assistants – braved frigid temperatures and deep snow to document winter lightning along the easternmost shores of Lake Ontario as part of a National Science Foundation-funded study.
Water
Great Lakes water bird health suffers at polluted sites despite cleanup efforts
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By Joshua Kim
Despite decades-long efforts to clean up toxic hot spots along Michigan’s Great Lakes shores, a recent study shows that the health of water birds in some areas continues to suffer.
Researchers examined ten years of data on fish-eating birds living near Saginaw Bay, the River Raisin, and Grand Traverse Bay.
Nearshore
Bacteria in Lake Superior reveal climate change’s impact on Great Lakes, research finds
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By Georgia Hill
Rising temperatures and changing environmental conditions in the Great Lakes contribute to harmful algal blooms. New research suggests that the nearshore regions of Lake Superior could indicate climate change’s effects on the region’s ecosystem.
Water
Sneaky salmon live life in the fast lane
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By Julia Belden
It’s one of Mother Nature’s most spectacular events. Mature chinook salmon, battered from a long and exhausting migration, return to the shallow tributaries of their birthplace to spawn. It’s the final act of the salmon’s short two-to-three-year life: after passing on their genes to the next generation, the fish quickly die.
Climate
Ice fishing returns to Lake Erie after years of thin ice and open water
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By Clara Lincolnhol
Ice fishing has returned to Lake Erie this year after several seasons of thin ice and open water. Business owners and anglers have noted an increase in activity, with some reporting higher turnout than in previous years. At the same time, changing ice conditions in recent years have raised questions about long-term trends on the Great Lakes.
Water
Researchers scrambling to understand implications of forever chemicals found in fish, waters of Lake Huron
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By Ruth Thornton
A new study finds new PFAS in the water and fish of Lake Huron near Rockport and Port Austin, raising concerns about human and wildlife health. We talk to one of the authors, experts from the Ecology Center in Ann Arbor, an Alpena charter boat captain and an East Lansing legislator.
Water
CDC awards biomonitoring grants to Great Lakes states; Future funding unclear
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By Isabella Figueroa
New grants to Great Lakes states to measure harmful chemicals in marginalized communities are facing uncertainty under increased White House scrutiny on federal spending.
In September 2024, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention awarded a first round of $5 million across six state biomonitoring programs that measure chemicals in people. Michigan, Minnesota, New York and Wisconsin were among the states receiving grants.
Art
New book explores the wonders of inland waters
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By Isabella Figueroa
Around 97% of all the water on the planet is in the vast oceans that cover more than two-thirds of its surface. “But Seas are not the only body of water that make Earth special,” ecologist David Strayer writes in his new book. “Beyond the Sea: The Hidden Life in Lakes, Streams, and Wetlands,” presents the lesser-known facts of freshwater ecosystems and how they affect our everyday lives.
Before retiring in 2016, Strayer spent nearly 50 years studying freshwater ecology, most recently at the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies, where he developed an expertise in the nearby Hudson River. The book lays out the good, the bad and the ugly of the world’s inland water bodies, which Strayer reports are home to some 2,600 plant species and 150,000 animal species, about half of which are insects. While celebrating that abundance of life the book doesn’t shy away from the serious threats and challenges that inland waters face, including pollution, invasive species, climate change and the damaging impacts of dams and water diversions.
Water
New book explores efforts to restore West Michigan’s ‘water of the walleye’
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By Isabella Figueroa
Hundreds of years ago, the Ottawa people called it Ken-O-Sha, or “water of the walleye”—a 26-mile tributary of Michigan’s Grand River where the fish were abundant. Today it is known as Plaster Creek, a name that refers to the gypsum mines that polluted the waterway near Grand Rapids beginning in the mid-19th century and drove away the walleye. A new book by two Calvin University professors explores an ongoing effort to restore Plaster Creek to a healthy stream worthy of its original name. A creek that “was known for the living creatures in the water got changed to a resource that was used to promote great wealth for certain people, not all people,” said co-author Gail Heffner, emerita professor of urban studies. “So our hope would be to be able to rename the creek someday.”
Four years in the making, “Reconciliation in a Michigan Watershed: Restoring Ken-O-Sha” highlights the Plaster Creek Stewards, an initiative launched in 2009 by the book’s authors and led by Calvin faculty, staff and students to improve the watershed with help from local schools, churches and other partners.
Water
NOAA to study Great Lakes climate change with underwater robots
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By Georgia Hill
As climate change increasingly shapes the Great Lakes region’s ecology and economy, scientists plan to use underwater robots to gather previously inaccessible data they say will help communities adapt. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced in September that its Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory received $1.9 million through the federal Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. It’s one of three NOAA labs that received $6.7 million in total for ocean and Great Lakes observing systems, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce, which includes the agency. In a press release, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said the funding “will help NOAA improve and expand climate and weather services so that communities are better prepared to tackle the impacts of climate change.”
A portion of the funding will allow GLERL and partners to deploy autonomous underwater vessels to monitor more of the Great Lakes ecosystem during a greater portion of the year than earlier technology allowed. The funding will also augment long-term tracking of water temperatures by increasing the number of moored heat sensors in the lakes.