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Unmanned research sub launched in Lake Superior

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(MN) Minneapolis Star Tribune – An unmanned research submarine — painted yellow — was launched in Lake Superior this week. The vessel is on a two-week test drive that scientists hope will prove the feasibility of using a submarine to monitor the lake more cheaply and reliably than is possible with manned boats. “It fills a sampling niche by swimming the lake without us having to be out there,” said Jay Austin, a physicist at the University of Minnesota Duluth who is overseeing the sub’s operation. “Being on a boat for two weeks would be terribly expensive.” More

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Report on St. Clair River erosion delayed

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(MI) The Associated Press – A team studying upper Great Lakes levels has postponed a report on whether they have lost excessive amounts of water through an enlarged river channel so the group can have more time for research, officials said Wednesday. The International Upper Great Lakes Study said the document would be released Dec. 1, instead of Oct. 1 as previously scheduled. The delay will give the group more time to evaluate its research and await peer reviews of a preliminary report issued in May, spokesman John Nevin said.

Water

Algae warning system tried out in Lake Erie

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(OH) The Toledo Blade – Staying one step ahead of algae. That’s the goal of a $269,500 initiative the federal government launched this summer for Lake Erie’s western basin, the warmest and shallowest part of the Great Lakes.  

Stretching approximately from Monroe to Sandusky, Lake Erie’s western basin also is the area hit hardest by farm and street runoff. More

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Scientists to complete sanctuary sinkhole research

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(MI) The Alpena News – A group of scientists who have been studying three Lake Huron sinkholes within the Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary will go on the lake today to gather geological data to wrap up more than a year of research. During the summer of 2008, a group consisting of scientists from varying scientific disciplines traveled to Alpena to begin gathering data as part of a research project funded through the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Office of Ocean Exploration. More

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Obama Seeks National Oversight of Waters

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(NY) The New York Times – The Obama administration called Thursday for a comprehensive national system for regulating the use of federal waters along the nation’s marine and Great Lakes shores, now administered by a hodgepodge of federal, state or other agencies with often-conflicting goals. The recommendation, outlined in an interim report by a panel appointed in June by President Obama, said regulators should consider marine regions as a whole when issuing rules rather than, say, regulating fishing one species at a time. More

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Canadian Coast Guard Commissions New Research Vessel

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(ON) The Gov Monitor – Canadian Coast Guard’s newest science research vessel CCGS Kelso will be based at the Canadian Centre of Inland Waters, where it will support researchers from Fisheries and Oceans Canada and Environment Canada gathering information about the biological, chemical and physical properties of Canada’s Great Lakes. The vessel, classified as a Near Shore Fisheries Research Vessel, has been in service since June 2009, and will assume the duties of the soon-to-be-retired CCGS Shark. CCGS Kelso is named after the late Dr. John Kelso, a Canadian scientist for Fisheries and Oceans Canada, who dedicated his life to advancing freshwater science. More

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Oceanographer to Lead NOAA Great Lakes Laboratory

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(DC) NOAA – A physical oceanographer who worked with satellites to generate climate, weather, and water products for operational and research use, will be the director of NOAA’s Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory in Ann Arbor, Mich. Marie Colton, Ph.D., who has been acting director since January, takes the permanent position on October 11. “Our Great Lakes laboratory plays a major role in helping NOAA and the nation address freshwater issues, including climate change, water resource management, invasive species, and human health. So we looked for someone with a broad range of experience and we were delighted that Dr. Colton was eager to continue,” said Richard W. Spinrad, Ph.D, NOAA assistant administrator for oceanic and atmospheric research. More

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Advocates for Great Lakes cleanup meet, eagerly await funding boost

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(MN) Minneapolis Star Tribune – Environmentalists’ long-held dream of restoring the Great Lakes may be on the verge of being realized. More than 200 of them are meeting in Duluth this week to celebrate — and to plot their next moves to protect the lakes that hold nearly one-fifth of the world’s fresh water. More

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Organizations seek volunteers to clean up lake, tributaries

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(OH) Cleveland Plain Dealer – The gorgeous shores of Lake Erie and the beautiful banks of its many tributaries are among the best environmental spots in Northeast Ohio. That may be in part because of the work done by an army of nature-loving volunteers who take part in various cleanups each year — both in the spring (RiverDay and other cleanups) and then the Lake Erie shore and its tributaries again each fall. More

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Sanctuary’s new plan unveiled

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(MI) The Alpena News – Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary Advisory Council members were among the first to get a look at the sanctuary’s final management plan during its official release on Tuesday. Copies of the document were distributed during the council’s Tuesday evening meeting. The printed version is 42 pages and represents a culmination of nearly three years of work. More