Amphibious Planes

On Sep 2, 11:02 pm, Gezellig wrote:
On Tue, 02 Sep 2008 18:39:05 -0400, Bryan Martin wrote:
The Great Lakes have a big problem with zebra mussels, a salt water
species that were imported in ballast water from seagoing freighters.
They have thrived in the big lakes and have been spreading into more and
more inland lakes.

The effect being...?

Having zebra mussels in a lake is like putting glass shards all around
and attaching them to anything where the water flows. They are
extremely prolific (1 million from one in a year), stink up
everything, and the shells are so sharp that chainmail gloves are
needed to handle submerged boat parts or dock hardware etc.

There is an organization (the 100th Meridian initiative) that has been
trying to keep ZM confined to the eastern half of the country. They
had propagated as far as Kansas but in Dec 2006 they were discovered
in Lake Mead. It was probably a single boat that did this 1000 mile
jump, but now the west coast lakes can look forward to this.

I am concerned that Lake Winnebago in Oshkosh is listed as having a
zebra mussel infestation, which could quickly be spread all over
Wisconsin by seaplanes.

This is a very serious issue.

On Sep 3, 12:02*am, Gezellig wrote:
On Tue, 02 Sep 2008 18:39:05 -0400, Bryan Martin wrote:
The Great Lakes have a big problem with zebra mussels, a salt water
species that were imported in ballast water from seagoing freighters.
They have thrived in the big lakes and have been spreading into more and
more inland lakes.

The effect being...?

They kill a number of native fish. In Lake Erie they set back the
recovery
of lake perch. ISTR they are also a nuisance in cooling systems such
as
those used for nuclear power plants.

--

FF

Fred the Red Shirt wrote:
On Sep 3, 12:02 am, Gezellig wrote:
On Tue, 02 Sep 2008 18:39:05 -0400, Bryan Martin wrote:
The Great Lakes have a big problem with zebra mussels,

(snip)

The effect being...?

(-ppity snip)

ISTR they are also a nuisance in cooling systems such
as
those used for nuclear power plants.

Yes, they're quickly becoming a terrific problem for cities that drop a
pipe into the river to draw drinking water. They're tiny and have very
sharp-edged shells, and apparently glue to rival the toughest barnacle.
With no natural enemies, they've completely choked off water intake
systems and also eat up all the food for less aggressive native species.

And even a fishing boat with a gallon or two of bilge or a bait bucket
filled at the last lake can carry the damn things to a new waterway
several states away.