Keeping Things Moving: Three U.S. Coast Guard cutters – the Mackinaw, Bristol Bay and Biscayne Bay – have been working hard to keep the St. Marys River system open for ferry and freighter traffic. On Thursday, though, the Guard’s Sector Sault Ste. Marie Facebook page gave this warning about ferry service to Sugar and Neebish islands: “(The cutter crews) are committed to minimizing service interruptions but warn it’s not a matter of ‘if’ service will be stopped but ‘when.’ It is recommend island residents prepare for the probability that ferry operations will be disrupted i.e. pack for overnight contingencies, stock pantries, and prepare for medical needs.” In the photo at top, the Mackinaw crew is rescuing a buoy sucked underwater by the ice. The Soo Locks are still scheduled for the usual Jan. 15 closing. NOAA put out a comparison of ice cover for this time in the last three years. As of this week, the Great Lakes are 22 percent iced over whereas in 2017 they were 3.1 percent covered and only 1.1 percent covered in 2016.
Meanwhile, the official closing of the St. Lawrence Seaway has hit a snag. The Federal Biscay, hauling soy beans, is stuck in the ice in the Snell Lock near Massena, N.Y., and has been blocking departure three or four other oceangoing vessels including the Beatrix, the last saltie out of the Twin Ports. The Federal Biscay, a Marshall Islands-flagged vessel on its way to Montréal, got wedged there with heavy ice on its hull and on the lock walls. The Seaway was supposed to close Dec. 31. North Country Public Radio reported that three tugs have not been able to free the ship. According to an update from wwnytv.com this morning, officials are considering whether the ships will need to winter here, which, according to the TV station, will be a first for the Seaway.
Over in Wisconsin: Madeline Island Ferry’s last day of boat service will be today and windsled service starts tomorrow. Despite the sub-sub-zero temperatures, the ice road is not open and the ice around the Apostle Islands is not safe for foot or car travel, reports say. Many are eagerly anticipating the potential of trekable ice forming around the sea caves (aka ice caves), but the Apostle Islands Lakeshore’s Facebook page this week repeatedly stressed the ice is not ready in the tone used yesterday: "Venturing out on the largest lake surface in the world is no joke. Due to dangerous ice conditions the Ice Caves are NOT open. Ice is never considered completely safe. We check the ice regularly to make sure there is enough solid ice to support the weight of the thousands of visitors the ice caves receive.”
Here’s a Wild Ride: We think Capt. Jason Church on the Thunder Bay has some of the coolest laker tweets, like this week when the Thunder Bay was in Thunder Bay and the good captain noted about the Sleeping Giant: “I think I just saw him shiver and pull up an extra blanket.” His sense of humor comes through in his “profile” shot (at right). This week, the captain also sent out a time-lapse video of his vessel slipping into the Superior’s Hallett 8 through the thick ice. (The fast video makes it look easy, but we know better.) The folks at Bent Paddle Brewing in Duluth were so taken with the time-lapse, they invited the captain for a free brew. That makes it worth the ride.
Some Cold is Good: There’s been a lot of frigid chatter (and we mean talk, not teeth) these days. A couple of weeks of below freezing temperatures hardly seems cause for celebration, but being glass-half-full people, we asked regional environmental researchers “What good is cold?” and got some great answers to share. We got quite a few, but you weren't going outside anyway, were you? Many involve what we’ve always said up here: The cold keeps out the riff raff, or in these cases, the invasive species. Perhaps knowing these things – and that the forecast calls for more normal temps next week – will warm your heart, if not your fingers, toes and nose.
Good for Good Algae: Colder temperatures favor the growth of diatoms (algae enclosed in silica) and other “good” algae, while restricting the growth of potentially toxin-producing cyanobacteria, which are favored under warmer conditions, explains Chris Filstrup, a research at UMD’s Large Lakes Observatory and Minnesota Sea Grant.
Andrew Bramburger of the Natural Resources Research Institute at UMD takes it further: “Other than ice fishermen, most people didn’t venture out onto the lakes at that time of year – not even scientists. As the ‘ice-on’ period has become shorter and shorter, researchers have become increasingly interested in what is going on under the ice, and how important that might be for the rest of the year. When ice is clear and allows sunlight to penetrate into the water, a diatom algae called Aulacoseira islandica often grows in high abundance right on the bottom of the ice. It is a large, ‘juicy’ alga that contains lots of lipids and is a preferred food item for zooplankton. When the ice melts, A. islandica is suspended in the water column, where it can help to jump-start the food web for the coming summer. In years when little or no ice forms, or when ice doesn’t persist into the days with longer hours of daylight, the populations of A. islandica are smaller and don’t provide as much early-season food for zooplankton. Additionally, cold winters are good predictors of less intense thermal stratification of lakes during the following summer. Since intensely stratified lakes can be more prone to harmful algae blooms, cold winter temperatures can help keep our lakes healthier in the summer months.” See more on Andrew’s work in a June Breneman’s story, “Scientists find algae get ‘meaningful burst’ under ice.”
Freezing Out the Borers: Many insects survive the winter because they have a type of antifreeze that allows them to survive very cold temperatures … up to a point, notes Don Henne, assistant professor in Natural Resources Management at Lakehead University in Thunder Bay. What this means for the emerald ash borer is that cold temperatures can help kill many beetle larvae overwintering under the bark of ash trees, but it depends on how cold. He says studies conducted by scientists in Minnesota found that the colder it got, the more emerald ash borer larvae were killed, but temperatures would have to be -35° C (or -31° F) for several hours to achieve 98 percent kill. For cities like Thunder Bay and Winnipeg (which recently confirmed the presence of emerald ash borer), extremely cold temperatures could slow the rate of ash tree mortality and allow more time for emerald ash borer control programs to suppress the pest’s populations, even though many borer larvae do survive extreme cold. Learn more about the ash borer threat and where they’ve been confirmed at emeraldashborer.info.
George Host, director of the NRRI’s Forest and Land Initiative, says cold may help with another tree pest. “Our changing climate alters the relationships between trees and insect pests, sometimes for better and sometimes for worse. With warmer summers and longer growing seasons, invasive species like the emerald ash borer will feed more actively on the inner bark of ash trees, resulting in larger and healthier populations. The eastern larch beetle, responsible for killing off significant portions of Minnesota’s tamarack trees, typically produce one generation of beetles per summer, but could produce two or even three generations under warmer summer conditions. However, our current extreme cold temperatures from this extended polar vortex could put a damper on these insect pests. Extended periods of 20 to 30 below zero temperatures will kill off larvae hidden beneath the tree’s bark. While these frigid temperatures are tough on us and our pets and our vehicles, they should provide Minnesota’s trees with some welcome relief!”
Icy Acoustics: “From monitoring whale populations to tactical surveillance, underwater acoustic communication networks are handy systems to have in place,” Allison Mills reports on research for Michigan Tech in Houghton. “But their greatest feature – being underwater – is also their greatest challenge. With a prestigious CAREER Award from the National Science Foundation, Zhaohui Wang, an assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering at Michigan Tech, sets out on the ice to look for a solution.” This other Allison story includes some recordings from below the ice.
Frogs Can Dig It: Freezing cold with sufficient snow cover can be good for frogs and amphibians of inland and coastal Great Lakes wetlands, says Minnesota Sea Grant’s Jesse Schomberg. Freezing cold minimizes runoff from the land to streams, rivers and lakes and means the precipitation that does fall is usually snow that is then stored on land until spring melt. Spring meltwater in turn feeds tiny wetlands called vernal pools, critical habitat for frogs and amphibians, which do not survive well in larger wetlands, ponds and lakes where they are vulnerable to fish predators. If you want to read deeper, check out this article about the influence the cold season on Great Lakes wetlands and inland lakes.
Freezing Zebras: The invasive species can tolerate very cold water, but do not tolerate freezing. They will freeze if they are around the edges of lakes, rivers and other water bodies, but only down to the depth of the ice, explains Valerie Brady of the UMD’s Natural Resources Research Institute. She demonstrated this in research she conducted in Lake Huron's Saginaw Bay, where she put zebra mussels in mesh boxes and tethered them in place at various depths over winter. Zebra mussels can be costly to remove when they clog water systems and latch onto underwater equipment, such as this current meter from Lake Michigan (at right).
Warm Winters Tick Moose Off: Minnesota Sea Grant’s Marte Kitson reminds us that when winters are not cold enough, tick infestations rise for moose, causing them irritation and potentially affecting eating and negatively affecting them in other ways. The National Geographic reports on such severe effects in the New England moose population. Michigan Technological University researchers add a note about warmer winter in general and the effects on Isle Royale moose.
Eggs on Ice: Titus Seilheimer, a Wisconsin Sea Grant fisheries specialist, notes “ice cover can help to protect lake whitefish eggs, which lay on the bottom from spawning time in fall until hatching in spring. Wave action could stir up the eggs or resuspended sediment, and lead to high mortality of the eggs when there is no ice cover. With ice cover, the eggs are more protected, especially on more marginal habitat.” He refers to a study on how climate change might affect whitefish and adds this icy reminder: “On a Great Lakes scale, the extreme cold we are seeing on land isn’t as pronounced underwater. Water temperatures in the deeper parts of Lake Superior do not change that much over the year, so siscowet (trout) and kiyi (ciscoes) probably are not noticing much difference in the deep parts of the Lake. These lakes are massive sinks of energy, so the influence of cold will vary depending on where in the lake you are.”
Incoming!: A Bemidji, Minnesota, police officer’s dash cam recorded a meteor’s arrival posted on the department's Facebook page Thursday afternoon. Apparently several people in the area heard or saw the results of the Quadrantid Meteor Shower. On that page, Eric Richards wrote, “I live in Saum, just on the south shore of Upper Red Lake, that thing rattled the heck out of my house last night, I thought a tree had fallen on my roof. Part of it must have exploded up here...” Many saw bright flashes and some thought it was fireworks. Kristi Hillman was just grateful the police caught it on video. “Thank you someone got this!! My husband thinks I have cracked up after I told him about what I saw!” The Wolf Moon, or super moon, hindered some sightings, reports the Duluth News Tribune. You may not see more shooting stars, but you can see another super moon soon – Jan. 31.
Our First Facebook Giveaway of 2018: We did our first Facebook giveaway of the year and will be sending a free 2018 Wall Calendar to Barbara Trafton of Utah. She thanked us with this nifty note: “Wow, what a great way to start the New Year! Grew up in Ashland, Wisconsin, and my heart will forever be in the Northland.” We hope the calendar brings the Big Lake closer to you, Barbara, with great images like this photo of Madeline Island by Linda & Larry Dunlap (it’s the July image; we thought everyone would like a summer view). Watch for more giveaways this year by following us on Facebook.
Photo & graphic credits: U.S. Coast Guard Sector Sault St. Marie; Madeline Island Ferry; Capt. Jason Church; Andrew Bramburger / UMD NRRI (two images); David Cappaert, Bugwood.org; Sarah Bird / Michigan Tech University; NOAA, Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory; Bemidji Police Department Facebook; Linda & Larry Dunlap / 2018 Lake Superior Calendar.