Lake Erie Average Temperature Up 6.2F In One Year - Detroit Free Press

[hatrack]

Lukewarm lakes, fast-growing algae and fish cooling their fins at colder depths are among the effects of a sweltering summer that has seared Great Lakes and inland surface waters. It's like a shift into overdrive for an ecosystem bursting with microscopic nutrients that incubate in warm water -- accelerating the growth of everything from tiny algae collectively clogging beaches to huge predator fish roaming the depths. Temperatures unmatched in a decade or longer have already been reached in some of the lakes this year, according to federal data, and they may still be weeks from peaking even as the weather turns cooler.

"By the end of June, the water was as warm as it normally is in mid- to late August," Algonac charter fishing boat captain Tom Loy, who operates on Lake St. Clair, said Tuesday. He has recorded 80-degree water temperatures twice this year, the first time in almost a quarter-century of fishing on the lake that he has seen the water so warm. Temperatures measured Monday by infrared satellite sensors and recorded by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration showed surface waters of all five Great Lakes were significantly warmer than they were a year ago on the same date. Lake Erie's average was 78 degrees, for example -- 6.2 degrees warmer than last year.

Residents along Little Traverse Bay have inquired about algae growth at an unprecedented pace, according to officials with the Petoskey-based Tip of the Mitt Watershed Council.
Gail Gruenwald, the council's director, said algae growth is promoted mostly by excess nutrients and as a side effect of the presence of invading zebra mussels -- but warmer water has accelerated the troubles. "One lady on Little Traverse Bay said the algae was 18 inches deep in one spot," Gruenwald said Tuesday. Though that type of algae is harmless, it's no fun to swim in.

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By next year, it will be a bonanza for walleye fishermen," Manny predicted. "It will be a good year for walleye, and for the Great Lakes fish and plants in general." Walleye, prized for their tasty fillets, are among the most popular sport fish in Michigan. Other less-desirable organisms also will flourish. Researchers predict an earlier and more widespread appearance of blue-green algae, which produces a toxin that can be harmful to some aquatic creatures and to human beings if exposed to enough of it. "We may see blue-green algae earlier than normal," which is late August or early September, said Gary Towns, a fisheries biologist with the Michigan Department of Natural Resources. "And it may be more numerous and more dense."

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http://www.freep.com/news/mich/hotwater27e_20050727.htm

[dcfirefighter]

1. Harvest the Algae

press it, separate teh oil from the water, and make biodiesel.

sell the pressed mash, high in carbohydrates & with some protein left, as animal feed.