Quagga mussels deplete food and nutrients from waters, threatening to drive whitefish extinct. But scientists looking for a solution are working on a shoestring budgets, as much more money is devoted to other invasive species.
Great Lakes
Posted inMichigan Environment Watch
Can Michigan save beloved whitefish? Fate hinges on uphill bid to kill mussels
Decades into the mussel invasion, whitefish are on brink of collapse. Scientists are working on a Hail Mary bid to save the fish, using tarps, paint scrapers and a 1,200-pound steel plate.
Posted inMichigan Environment Watch
Great Lakes drownings down, marine patrol funding cut
Drownings in the Great Lakes are down this year, with half of them occurring in Lake Michigan. Meanwhile, the number of drownings in inland lakes isn’t known and some sheriffs are cutting back marine patrols amid a funding shortage.
Posted inQuality of Life
Michigan shipwreck offers lessons from the depths
The recently discovered Western Reserve wreck is providing lessons about shipbuilding, underwater archaeology and the importance of survivor accounts.
Posted inEvents
Bridge Lunch Break to discuss whitefish crisis
The July 30 event will feature Bridge Michigan environmental reporter Kelly House.
Posted inOutdoors Life
50 years after Edmund Fitzgerald sank, swimmers to complete ‘final voyage’
The Edmund Fitzgerald was carrying Iron Ore to Detroit when it sank in 1975, killing all crew members. Now, 68 swimmers — Led by Jim “The Shark” Dreyer — will complete the mission.
Posted inMichigan Environment Watch
A record year for Great Lakes piping plovers
The Great Lakes piping plover recovery effort has been ongoing since the mid-1980s when the population got as low as a dozen nesting pairs. This year, the number reached 85 nesting pairs for the first time.
Posted inOutdoors Life
Video: Freighter's near sinking shows risk still exists on the Great Lakes
It’s been 50 years since a freighter sank on the Great Lakes, but the the Michipicoten’s close call shows the risk still exists.
Posted inMichigan Environment Watch
‘We can’t regulate ourselves’ out of whitefish crisis, experts say
Amid a population crash of Michigan’s staple lake whitefish, fisheries experts told regulators that more research needs to be done to discover how to stem the scourge of invasive mussels. Without that, they said, efforts to limit fishing are futile.
Posted inMichigan Environment Watch
Michigan fishing regulators to discuss Great Lakes whitefish crisis
The Michigan Natural Resources Commission on Thursday will hear a presentation on the looming collapse of whitefish in lakes Michigan and Huron. Bridge Michigan is spending the summer exploring the ramifications.