Science Takes On a Silent Invader (quagga mussels and zebra mussels)

NY Times ^ | FEB. 24, 2014 | ROBERT H. BOYLE

[neverdem]

IIRC, the NY Times had a story about ocean going ships dumping ballast water with zebra mussels in the Hudson River not far from Albany, NY about 2 decades ago.

[hinckley buzzard]

That's how they came to the Great Lakes. One benefit, they clean up the water dramatically, and game fish have managed to coexist.

[dhs12345]

Wonder what they taste like? Feed people, kill two birds.

[Kozak]

Yeah, I was shocked having come back to Chicago after being away for over a decade and seeing how clear the water in Lake Michigan was. Visability was more then 40 feet.

[neverdem]

I don’t need to hear about Rachel Carson. DDT, used often enough, also breads resistance in the pests we don’t want, e.g. mosquitoes. It’s easy to Google DDT resitance.

[neverdem]

It’s easy to Google DDT resistance. Forgive the typo.

[KC Burke]

These thing are bad and really mess with intakes at power plants and elsewhere. Once they are in a watershed or river system, their progress is unstoppable -— until now, it appears.

Great if it works.

[headstamp 2]

Round Goby is another invasive species in the great lakes. Eat a lot of game fish eggs.

[neverdem]

Judge tosses out SAFE Act charge against Lockport man - Says police violated Lockport man’s rights

FReepmail me if you want on or off my New York ping list.

[Blood of Tyrants]

DDT is one of the most maligned chemicals around and does NOT cause eggshell thinning like the pseudo science once claimed. A small amount of powered DDT will protect an African hut from malaria carrying mosquitoes for a year.

[JimRed]

Do they taste good? If so, there’s an opportunity.

[JimRed]

It’s easy to Google DDT resistance. Forgive the typo.

Typo forgiven; go and sin no more. But Google is part of the enemy camp.

[PGR88]

I don’t see the problem. Water in Lake Erie is clean and clear. As a kid, I remember it being muddy and murky - its now very attractive to swim in.

I have seen no drop off in sport fish - in fact, I see more bass and walleye, and fewer annoying sheepshead near shore. Seaweed still grows in the same protected coves and inlets as it used to as well.

[nascarnation]

But Google is part of the enemy camp.

Sadly all major internet portals are controlled by libertarians or progressives....

[Monitor]

Maybe there is hope.

Today, for the first time since the 1800s, there are no commercial fishing boats operating out of Milwaukee. The boats are gone because the fish are gone.

[Oatka]

I don’t see the problem.
Not being one of the affected parties, I wondered the same. Granted they are a major PITA for intake pipes, but . . . do they kill off local fisheries or other critters? It seems to me that "Dr. Strayer said, adding that they filtered 'a volume of water equal to that of all the water in the estuary every one to four days.' would be a major asset in closed water systems that are heavily polluted. IOW, is only a problem for the utilities, et al, or are fish and game areas also adversely affected?

"There were no natural enemies to keep them in check."
Aye, there's the rub, when they invade open systems.

[Monitor]

Now, if only we could get the FIBs to close off the Illinois River to keep the Asian Carp from getting into Lake Michigan.

[neverdem]

A good subspecies of Pseudomonas is lethal to these silent invaders.

Middle Eastern Virus More Widespread Than Thought

Progress Against Hepatitis C, a Sneaky Virus

FReepmail me if you want on or off my combined microbiology/immunology ping list.

[Bon of Babble]

DH boats in California and Nevada and they ALWAYS do through checks of his fishing boat and recreational craft — says they’re looking for those mussels.

In “Life After People” it showed that the intake valves for the hydropower Hoover Dam have to be “blown out” every once in a while because of invasive “Eurasian” quagga mussels and without people, the power would eventually go off.

They’ve also invaded David, Mojave and Parker dams.

[DJ MacWoW]

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