About two weeks ago, I went to my grandma and grandpa's house near Breezy Point, MN. The live on Lake Ossawinnamakee. About late October/ early November every year I help them take their docks, boats, and swimming raft out of the water for the winter. About 6 or 7 years ago we started noticing little sharp shell shaped objects attached to the docks, boats, and swimming raft. We did some research to find that these were actually an invasive specie know as zebra mussels.(The picture to the right is a cluster of zebra mussels on a native mussel)Zebra mussels are native to Eastern Europe and Western Russia and were brought over to the Great Lakes in ballast water of freighters (used as weight to stabilize ships). Populations of zebra mussels were discovered in the Great Lakes about 1988. The spread of zebra mussels has reached the Mississippi River and are now slowly making their way into Minnesota's inland lakes. A single female Zebra Mussel can produce at a rate of 100,000-500,000 eggs per year. These eggs than develop into larvae and within two to three weeks they start attaching to docks, boats, swimming rafts, seaweed, rocks, and almost anything they can find. These Zebra Mussels also eat plankton from the lake which fish need for food to live healthy.
So to sum it up these are very troubling species that do not belong in Minnesota's inland lakes.
Each year when we take out the dock, swimming raft, and boats, the zebra mussels get thicker and thicker. The past two years I have even seen them attached in clusters to rocks in swimming areas on the lakes. With the sharpness of these species this causes the potential for them to cut swimmers. To help prevent the spread of zebra mussels, examine boat hulls, swimming platforms, docks, aquatic plants, wood and other objects along shorelines of lakes and rivers. Also do not transfer water from one lake to another by boat or any other type of container. There is a Volunteer Zebra Mussel Monitoring Program where you can report your efforts each year.
The Minnesota DNR has also been studies done on this lake and a video with more information can be found by clicking here.
Very interesting post!
ReplyDeleteI too have also noticed zebra mussels in the lakes. This past summer I went fishing a lot on the lakes north of Hermantown and noticed every time we pulled up the anchor that there were zebra mussels in clusters on it. I was actually shocked that they had gotten up this far north, because you see the signs every time you put your boat in the water but you never really think you will see them.
That is so crazy! I have never heard of these before. Lakes are going to be covered with them! Is there a way of getting rid of them?
ReplyDeleteAs of now there is no way to get rid of them once they are in a lake. So prevention is the best way to control the spread of them.
ReplyDeleteThese things are crazy! My grandparents also have them in their lake, we have to clean the boat really well every time we take it out of the lake to bring other places and it's a HUGE task. It's interesting to hear the background information, thanks!
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