The Pictured Rocks: Lake Superior

I wanted to see peregrine falcons. I heard they were nesting on top of  the Pictured Rocks. So I took the tourist  boat that cruises by the Pictured Rocks and was rewarded with the rare sight of a falcon.  This is a good spot for this swift bird because they like to dive on their prey.  The disadvantage is that preditors can raid their nests at this location.

Peregrines do well on tall buildings and the stacks of  municipal power plants where they can’t be reached by wolves, foxes, bobcats and other  predators.

Years ago, before DDT was banned, these beautiful falcons were nearly wiped out.  They were sensitive and the poison.  The banning of DDT was an environmental victory.

Read more about this in The Dynamic Great Lakes.

Available at bn.com, Amazon and Amazon’s Kindle reader and many other stores.

The Pictured Rocks: Lake Superior

Food Webs in Lake Michigan

Here is a picture from Seagrant showing the food webs. Last year alewives were scarce and so fishing for salmon was so so. This year the alewives recovered and large salmon are being caught.

Fishing for Trout and Salmon

Well we didn’t get a keeper but it was a nice outing.

Trout and Salmon Caught in Lake Michigan

The fish are running upstream to spawn and the fishing is heating up.

Sailing the Great Lakes and warblers.

Sailors love the Great Lakes. This is a way to experience the waves, winds and colors of the lakes. Once when sailing three kinds of warblers landed on our boat and rested. It had become foggy and they had lost their way. As soon as a patch of sun popped out, they flew away. They use celestial clues to find their way. And people call them bird brains. I use a gps. Maybe I’m the bird brain.

The Steelheads are Running: Grand Rapids, MI

 

It was a chilly morning, but it was really worth getting out on the Grand River.  Three guys caught their limit before noon.

Their guide Gregory Knapp gave Norm and his friend his fish. The three of them caught nine fish altogether.

Broken Oil Pipeline Threatens Lake Michigan

Enbridge, a Canadian Oil company, is responsible for a broken oil pipeline that is gushing oil into the Kalamazoo River.  If the toxic oil reaches Lake Michigan 80 miles away, it would be a disaster of tremendous proportions for all living things in and around the water.  I am heartsick about this.

The Great Lakes support an array of life including the people who depend on it for drinking water and for domestic, industrial, recreational and agricultural uses. 

There is an unparalled sports fishery for salmon and other fishes. I hope the EPA can prevent the oil from reaching Lake Michigan.  These waters flow into Lake Huron, Lake St. Clair, Lake Erie, Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River.  It’s the greatest freshwater system on this planet.

Update:  The EPA stepped in to contain the spill before it reached Lake Michigan.  The oil spill has destroyed property along the Kalamazoo River, wildlife and marshes.  This should not have happened.

Pending Legislation

http://www.cleanwateraction.org/feature/countdown-ban-drilling-great-lakes

Update September 21, 2010. Looks like a pipeline is being proposed to go through the Straits of Mackinac. Enbridge again: http://michiganmessenger.com/42060/state-approves-work-on-oil-pipeline-under-mackinac-straits

Grand River Expedition

Arrival in Grand Haven, MI

 

I saw them paddling into Grand Haven today at the end of their Grand River odyssey.  There were canoes and kayaks of all sorts and they had just finished a twelve day journey down the length of the Grand River to study what is happening in this tributary to Lake Michigan. 

They included scientists and students from Michigan State and Grand Valley State universities, local conservation districts and the Michigan Department of Natural Resources and Environment.  I also chatted with people who joined the group as interested citizens.

There were displays from Grand Valley’s Annis Water Institute and the Coast Guard had a game to play: what sort of trash stays in the environment the longest.  O.K.  I played their game and was amazed at how long it would take a thin fishing line to disappear.  400 years.

I am glad there are people willing to raise the awareness of people along the length of the Grand River.  After all, water is life. We can’t do without it.

http://www.mlive.com/opinion/grand-rapids/index.ssf/2010/07/editorial_a_grand_expedition_d.html

Regatta Lake Michigan

Enjoying the fine weather is a regatta on Lake Michigan. A little more wind would have been appreciated though. 

 They look like painted boats on a painted freshwater sea.

The Dynamic Great Lakes Satellite View

Satellite View of the Great Lakes

Satellite pictures of the Great Lakes show their immense size.  Their waters flow from the highest, Lake Superior down into Lake Michigan and Lake Huron.  These are called the upper Great Lakes.  From there to the shallowest Lake Erie and then over Niagara Falls into deep Lake Ontario.  The water then flows toward the Atlantic through the St. Lawrence River.

Read about these freshwater lakes in my book, The Dynamic Great Lakes.

a critically acclaimed book