Destruction of Giant Algae Doughnut Threatens Lake Michigan (Quagga mussels eating phytoplankton)

LiveScience.com ^ | 9/8/10 | Andrea Leontiou

[NormsRevenge]

For all of those living near the shores of Lake Michigan.. that munching sound you hear occasionally , well, just a theory. ;-)

[1rudeboy]

So that dirty, murky water I swam in as a kid is better than the clean, clear water I swim in now?

[NormsRevenge]

This image shows how the concentration of chlorophyll a, a measure of phytoplankton, has declined significantly
(illustrated by shift from to blue) within a large ring of water in southern Lake Michigan. Credit: Foad Yousef.

[AU72]

Obama is naming a Carp Czar to handle the Asian Carps in the Great Lakes.
Is he now going to name a Quagga Czar?

[Dr. Bogus Pachysandra]

The “phytoplankton doughnut”

I’m surprised the cops missed it!

[NonValueAdded]

Quaggamire

[JRios1968]

PING

[Lurker]

+1

[WKUHilltopper]

We also need a Donut Czar too.

[DemforBush]

If these things are the same as the ones I read about a while ago, they cause havoc with water intake pipes and the like because they just set up shop on any hard surface and quickly multiply until the intakes clog.

[FreedomGuru]

Mmmmm Mmmmmm Mmmmmm donuts.

[The_Victor]

Donuts......

[granite]

Foad Yousef

[Kenny Bunk]

Leave them damned Quagga mussels alone!

They almost single-handedly (bad metaphor) cleaned up Lake Erie, brought back commercial fishing for the Drum, a species that eats quagga mussels and fresh-water shellfish, and made the water in the lake eerily clean and clear.

OK, Lake Michigan was never all that dirty, but something will come along to eat the mussels, and they will just become part of the system.

Plus, as far as Quagga mussels go, they's kinda like, you know, cute.

[Roccus]

Some good zebra and quagga mussel info here

http://nas.er.usgs.gov/taxgroup/mollusks/zebramussel/

[GQuagmire]

giggety!

[ClearCase_guy]

Hmmmmmmmmm ... algae."

[stefanbatory]

those would be the zebra mussel - another invasive species...

[derllak]

Beware of the quagga!

[DemforBush]

Whoops! You were right. My mistake!