Lake Erie

And so, unfortunately, they begin

Today’s Lake Erie Harmful Algal Bloom Bulletin, published by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), reports the presence of a Microcystis cyanobacteria bloom extending from Maumee Bay near Toledo about 13 miles north along the Michigan coast and 15 miles east along the Ohio coast. A persistent bloom in Sandusky Bay, the bulletin reports, is continuing.

You can learn more about NOAA’s harmful algal bloom forecasts here, and you can sign up to get bulletins about them (every couple of days or so from July to October) by clicking the blue “Subscribe” button. Details in the bulletins, which include the locations of blooms and three-day forecasts, can be used to plan your activities at Lake Erie.

NOAA last week predicted that western Lake Erie will experience significant harmful algal bloom levels this summer.

Research ‘vital’ in algal bloom fight

This year’s extremely wet spring “has shed light on the movement of nutrients from the land into Lake Erie,” Chris Winslow, director of Ohio State’s Ohio Sea Grant and Stone Laboratory programs, said at yesterday’s announcement of the harmful algal bloom forecast for western Lake Erie. (You can watch the event here.)

“Despite the predicted size of this year’s bloom, portions of the lake will be algae-free during the bloom season, and the lake will remain a key asset for the state,” Winslow said. “Ongoing research continues to help us understand bloom movement and toxin production, and remains vital to providing our water treatment facilities with the tools, technology, and training they need to keep our drinking water safe.”

Read about CFAES’ ongoing efforts to help fight Lake Erie’s harmful algal blooms. (Photo: Marblehead lighthouse, Getty Images.)

How will Lake Erie’s algal bloom rate?

This summer’s harmful algal bloom in western Lake Erie is expected to measure 7.5 on the severity index, but could possibly range between 6 and 9, according to the forecast released yesterday by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

To compare, last year’s bloom was 3.6, 2017’s was 8.0, while the record bloom in 2015 was 10.5.

Read Ohio Sea Grant’s press release about the announcement.

Watch the announcement event above.

All about that bass (and its friends)

What fish live in Lake Erie? Find out at “Walleye, Perch, and Bass, Oh My!” (which are three good clues right there), the next Ohio Sea Grant science talk at Lakeside Chautauqua on the Marblehead peninsula. You’ll meet some finny friends and then will hear about what concerns them. It’s from 2–3 p.m. on Tuesday, July 16.

Admission to the talk is free but requires paid admission to Lakeside and a parking pass.

Find out more. (Photo: Smallmouth bass, Eric Engbretson, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.)

‘Significant’ Lake Erie algal bloom forecast

In a forecast presented today at Ohio State’s Stone Laboratory at Put-in-Bay, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and its partners are predicting a “significant” harmful algal bloom in western Lake Erie this summer. Read Ohio Sea Grant’s press release about the forecast.

ABCs of AIS; or, learning by the water

The Great Lakes-area AIS Landing Blitz campaign, a dockside effort to educate boaters and others about the risks from aquatic invasive species, and how to keep from spreading them, continues on Saturday, July 7, at the Mazurik State Access Area at Lakeside on Lake Erie.

Read more in a press release from Ohio State’s Ohio Sea Grant program. Ohio Sea Grant is one of the campaign’s sponsors.

Two days later, and again with Ohio Sea Grant’s assistance, you’ll have another chance to learn about aquatic invasive species at Lakeside.

Don’t pick up these hitchhikers

Aquatic invasive species—which ones to watch for, how to stop them, and why—are the focus of “Stop Aquatic Hitchhikers!” from 2–3 p.m. Tuesday, July 9, at Lakeside Chautauqua on the Marblehead peninsula. It’s part of a summer series of Lake Erie science talks presented by staff from Ohio Sea Grant and Stone Lab. Admission to the talk itself is free but requires paid admission to Lakeside and a pass to park there. Learn more. (Photo: Invasive round gobies, Dave Jude, Michigan Sea Grant, via Flickr.)

What’s the Lake Erie algae forecast?

A reminder that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s annual harmful algal bloom forecast for western Lake Erie, including reports on Maumee River nutrient loading and on recent research aimed at solving the problem, is set for July 11 at Stone Lab at Put-in-Bay. There’s a webinar option if you can’t attend in person. (Photo: Lake Erie on June 26, NOAA CoastWatch.)

Lake Erie algae ‘not just a western-basin issue’

A study on harmful algal blooms in central Lake Erie, featured in earlier posts here and here, was recently covered by the Columbus Dispatch.

“The main takeaway,” study leader Justin Chaffin is quoted as saying in the story, “is that cyanobacteria blooms are not just a western-basin issue.”

Chaffin is research coordinator at CFAES’ Stone Laboratory.

Read the full story.