A vicious cycle of Type E botulism is likely the cause of bird die-off in the park. Invasive zebra and quagga mussels filter and clear the water allowing overgrowth of Cladophora (alga) mats where the botulism bacteria breeds. Botulism then enters the food chain through the mussels and fish and then birds. A crew from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee is conducting ongoing SCUBA diving research in Good Harbor Bay, studying botulism. An underwater time-lapse camera shows Cladophora growth and die-off and an underwater sonde records temperature, dissolved oxygen, pH, conductance, current direction and current speed. THis video taken from the boat in Good Harbor Bay shows how clear the water has become following the intense filter feeding of plankton by the invasive quagga mussel.
Posted on: Sat, 14 Jun 2014 13:36:06 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015