Map of Great Lakes

This NOAA map shows the depths of all five Great Lakes. Lake Superior some believe is shaped like a wolf’s head with Isle Royale the eye. It is the largest and deepest. Lake Michigan and Lake Huron are the same sea level. Lake Erie waters take a tumble over Niagara Falls and the water arrives in Lake Ontario and then down the St. Lawrence River to the Atlantic Ocean. Read more about these fresh water seas in my book, The Dynamic Great Lakes available from many online bookstores as well as the publisher http://www.publishamerica.net/product23502.html Only $9.95 + shipping for the new updated edition.

Map of the Great Lakes System

I wrote my book, The Dynamic Great Lakes to show that these interconnected lakes are a freshwater system with unique species. They are dynamic systems that change season to season, day by day and from day to night. I enjoyed working on this book. I interviewed many experts: geologists, fish biologists, naturalists and people who are concerned about the future of the world’s greatest freshwater system.

I wrote the book as a primer to the Great Lakes and it is light enough to throw in your duffel bag if you are traveling. It is suitable for adults and young readers.

Great Lakes Marshes

Wetlands and marshes are vital to the health of rivers and lakes. They nurture small fish, birds and dragonflies. Dragonflies feed upon mosquitoes. Redwing blackbirds balance on cattails and call chirringly. Eagles and hawks survey from trees and the sky. Sand hill cranes do their dances then hatch young. The great blue heron calls from a tree where he has landed. Geese, swans and ducks play in the marsh. Turtles, snakes, frogs and toads may live partly on land and partly in water. We hardly know they are there until evening when the toads sing their whirligig songs.
Marshes and wetlands help prevent floods since they act as a sponge. These places are nurseries for birds and young fish.

The Dynamic Great Lakes

The Dynamic Great Lakes is a book about our five freshwater seas.

Pictured is the North Shore of Lake Superior, some of the oldest rocks in the world. Also picured is the critically acclaimed book, The Dynamic Great Lakes.. For those who like to travel and fish, this is a handy book to throw in your duffel bag.

Watercolor of an American Bald Eagle

Eagles will begin their courtship this month. The male and female play a daring game in the air. They fly high, grasp talons and plummet to earth unclasping at the last moment before hitting the ground and then they fly up.

Read about the environmental success story in my book, The Dynamic Great Lakes The success was that eagles made a comeback after Rachel Carson’s book, Silent Spring . The book made people realize what they must do to bring about good changes to the environment.

The Return of the Eagle

Read about the return of the American Bald Eagle to the shores of the Great Lakes in my book, The Dynamic Great Lakes

Banning DDT was responsible for their return. I often see them near the shores of Lake Michigan. It is illegal to shoot them.

http://www.publishamerica.net/product23502.html Where to order an updated copy of The Dynamic Great Lakes.

Review of The Dynamic Great Lakes

One of the first reviewers of my book, The Dynamic Great Lakes was Norman Goldman. Here is his review:

The Dynamic Great Lakes

Many of us know very little about the five Great Lakes other than perhaps being able to name them. As Barbara Spring states in her introduction to her outstanding primer The Dynamic Great Lakes they are “a flowing river of seas left behind by Ice Age glaciers and are nearly twenty percent of the world’s supply of fresh surface water; the world’s greatest freshwater system.”

The ecosystem of this great body of water is very complex and unfortunately due to pollution and the fallout of modern industry and agriculture they have gone through a gradual transformation.

One of the unique characteristics of this compact book is that it is written in a language devoid of esoteric explanations. The eight chapters of the book reflect the author’s teaching and journalistic aptitudes in knowing how to unravel the mystery of the Great Lakes and the many painful dangers it has faced and continues to face.

Each of the five Lakes is introduced with a brief synopsis of important elements distinguishing one from the other such as: elevation, length, breadth, average depth, maximum depth, volume, water area, retention time, population and outlet. From this point of departure the author deals with the various changes that have taken place as well as the various major issues affecting the Lakes.

There are also brief descriptions of the various animal life found in each of the Lakes and how they have been affected by pollution and the appearance of harmful species, such as the Lamprey Eel.

However, we are also reminded throughout the reading of the book that “people power” can have an effect and if we band together and make our voices heard we could exert influence in reversing some of the harmful trends that have caused ecological disaster.

For example we are apprised of the situation that occurred in relation to Lake Erie. In 1969 a tributary river of Lake Erie, the Cayahoga, caught on fire due to being heavily coated with oil and debris. As a result, the Federal Water Quality Administration launched a one and half billion dollar municipal sewage treatment program for the Erie Basin which included the five surrounding states: Michigan, Ohio, New York, Pennsylvania, and Indiana.

The conclusion of the book most appropriately reminds us that: “we are all challenged to use our knowledge, creativity and common sense to keep the Great Lakes great. Can you think of ways to think globally and act locally?” We are also warned “life on earth is only possible as long as our limited life support system works.”

Copyright 2002, Bookideas.com. Originally published at Bookideas.com.

Montreal Surfer Dudes in Winter Ice

Surfing the outlet of the Great Lakes, the St. Lawrence River this time of year looks pretty chilly. These surfers are near Montreal Canada The current gives them quite a ride.

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

Think Globally: Act Locally

 

Excerpt from The Dynamic Great Lakes

 

On Planet Earth, the Great Lakes are absolutely unique. The decisions we make in our daily lives, and the choice we make in who represents us in our government may affect generations to come.

The Great Lakes system is a treasure. Understanding their natural processes and understanding the dynamics of what we do is essential to these life-giving waters.

The way to solve pollution problems is to think globally and to act locally.

Picture yourself as an astronaut looking down from a spacecraft at this beautiful planet, the Earth. From space, it is easy to see that everything is connected to everything else. The great masses of swirling clouds travel over the continents, drop rain, and sometimes along with the rain, pollutants. The lakes, rivers and seas are interconnected. In order to control global pollution problems they must be controlled at their source.