Great Lakes Aquatic Habitat News
The Newsletter of the Great Lakes
Aquatic Habitat Network and Fund
The Great Lakes Aquatic Habitat News is the newsletter of the Great Lakes Aquatic Habitat Network and Fund, published five times per year. The News is intended to provide a forum for the free exchange of ideas among citizens and organizations working to protect aquatic habitats in the Great Lakes Basin.
Volume 15, Number 3 • Fall 2007
New Invasive Algae is Blooming in
West Erie/Maumee Bay
Grassroots Profile
By Sandy Bihn,Western Lake Erie Association
Visitors to portions of Lake Erie’s shorelines
this summer have had to share the
beach with another, unwelcome visitor.
Lyngbya wollei, a toxic blue-green algae
that appears as matted wool with
hairballs and can be four to five feet deep,
was first observed onshore late last
summer after a seven-day northeastern
storm. It was hoped that the winter freeze
would kill it, but no such luck.
In early April the matted masses of algae
washed up on the shallow shores of
Maumee Bay and far western Lake Erie. As
it washes on shore, grasses and weeds
sprout in the algae on sand and rocks.
Researchers say it was in deeper waters,
but before last summer had never
detached from the bottom and come
ashore. Lyngbya has taken over marinas in
Maumee Bay and farWestern Lake Erie. In
deeper marinas the algae is less visible,
but it has tied up boat motors and has
been known to clogwater and power plant
intakes in other areas.
Lyngbya is predominantly found in inland
lakes of the southeastern United States. It
is believed to have come to the Great Lakes
via recreational boats.Howfar will it ripple
along the shores of Lake Erie and the Great
Lakes and how much worse will it get? Dr.
Hans Pearl from the University of North
Carolina said it will certainly spread and is
a nuisance. In Florida it is sometimes
mechanically removed. Dr. Pearl says the
only way to really get rid of it is to starve it
by reducing phosphorous levels in the
water.
Most attribute the comeback of Lake Erie
to taking phosphorous out of laundry
detergent. But according to decades of
testing by Dr. David Baker from Heidleberg
College, dissolved phosphorus has been
increasing in Lake Erie since the mid
1990’s. With lower water levels and
increasing phosphorous loads, the
integrity of Lake Erie is again at risk.
And since Western Lake Erie has the
warmest, shallowest, most biologically
productivewaters in the Great Lakes, these
waters serve as an incubator and indicator
for the rest of the lakes.
Sources of the phosphorous in Lake Erie
include agricultural and urban runoff,
zebra mussel excretions, lawn fertilizers,
dishwasher detergent, and wastewater
plants. Citizens can help: use only
phosphorous free dishwasher detergent
and, if lawn fertilizer must be used, apply
only phosphorous free.
For more information, contact
Sandy Bihn, Executive
Director/Waterkeeper,
Western Lake Erie Association,
419-691-3788 or visit
http://westernlakeerie.org/index.html.
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