By Dylan Engels
Fishing licenses for the year are available, and DNR has changed a few requirements. We talk to experts from the Platte River Hatchery in Beulah, DNR and Michigan United Conservation Clubs.
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.
Water
E. coli outbreaks can hurt real estate values, study finds
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By Eric Freedman
Capital News Service
Outbreaks of the waterborne bacteria E. coli can lower local real estate values, at least temporarily, a new study says. Those outbreaks, which have become increasingly common, are a growing concern in coastal and inland communities, particularly in rural counties, according to the study by researchers from Saginaw Valley State University, Cornell University and the University of Rhode Island. “In Michigan, the presence of E. coli has become problematic for many areas where agricultural run-off and ineffective policies have made these outbreaks endemic,” the study said. As for the negative economic impact on homes within one mile of an outbreak, the study found that “proximity to E. coli outbreaks leads to an 8.9% price drop for houses sold during the outbreaks, which is over $13,000 for the average home.”
coli can cause serious illness and death, and is increasingly common due to climate change, especially in the Great Lakes region, it said. Symptoms included diarrhea, fever and vomiting, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Nearshore
New marine sanctuary spotlights a ‘submerged museum’ on Lake Ontario
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By Anna Barnes
After seven years of planning, a new marine sanctuary now protects a portion of Lake Ontario rich with history and shipwrecks. The community-driven designation aims to benefit the area through preservation, economic development and conservation. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration designates marine sanctuaries to preserve sites with national significance, such as important archeology, culture or marine life. The new sanctuary, established in June, covers a large swath of eastern Lake Ontario bordering New York’s Oswego, Jefferson, Cayuga and Wayne counties, according to NOAA. NOAA selected the area for its historic, cultural and archaeological significance, referring to it as the gateway between the Great Lakes and the Atlantic Ocean.
Water
How a famous Great Lakes shipwreck became trendy on TikTok
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By Clara Lincolnhol
As the gales of November approach, social media users are channeling a famous Great Lakes shipwreck as tongue-in-cheek inspiration for a new fall aesthetic. It began with a video comedian Django Gold posted to TikTok in September. “Brat Summer is over. It’s time for Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald Fall,” Gold says in the short video, which has nearly 23,000 likes. Gordon Lightfoot’s song “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald” plays in the background.