The Michigan Department of Natural Resources recently listed the sporting swine as an invasive species, stepping up the state’s fight against swine gone wild.
By April 2012, sporting and breeding facilities won’t be allowed to have sporting swine because they can get loose and become feral.
Feral swine have a track record for damaging property, eating domestic and wild animals, out-competing native animals for food and spreading diseases like Foot-and-Mouth disease to wildlife, livestock and humans.
 
 
The department encourages sporting facilities to offer hunts to get rid of their sporting swine population. To …

Canadian scientists are launching a robotic kayak equipped with echo sounder sensors in the Welland Canal this week to see if invasive fish such as the Asian carp could travel between Lake Ontario and Lake Erie.

A high-pressure stream of 140-degree water is enough to cook a zebra mussel, not to mention blast it to bits.
With the Mobile Decontamination Machine at its side, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources is flexing its arm in the zebra mussel battle. Instead of relying on chemicals, bacteria or toxins covered in fat to manage the invasive species, the department is adopting a physical attack.
Hot water is pumped through boats’ bilge lines to kill and flush out the mussels, which often live in bilge water and the underside of the …

After decades of decline, mercury levels are increasing in some Great Lakes fish and birds, according to a recent study.

And health problems are occurring at lower concentrations than expected.

Photo Fridays have been hijacked by the leafers!  During the fall, we’ll be posting reader submitted pictures of brilliant autumn colors throughout the Great Lakes region.
 

Pain medicine, birth control, anti-depressants and other pharmaceuticals make their way into the Great Lakes through municipal water systems and stormwater runoff.

That threatens human health, harms wildlife and contaminates drinking water, according to a recent report.

Environmental groups are continuing to complain that they’re kept out of the loop on updating the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement.
That’s a commitment of U.S. and Canadian governments to protect the Great Lakes.
In September, 41 citizens’ groups submitted a list of concerns to agreement negotiators asking for a bold, urgent plan with more timelines and specific goals.
I bet they’d also like to read the agreement before it’s signed.
For more on the issue, check out what Echo commentator Gary Wilson has to say.

A Great Lakes shipping canal scheduled to be dredged next spring has toxic chemicals deep below the surface, according to a recent study.

NASA recently posted a satellite image of the world’s greatest lake painted with fog.
The fog’s perfect outline of Lake Baikal in Siberia is a phenomenon known as evaporation fog. It happens when surface water evaporates into cold air and forms a cloud.
Lake Baikal isn’t the only great lake with fog events. The North American Great Lakes often experience lake effect, when warm, moist air blows off the lake and mixes with the cooler air over land to create fog and stratocumulus clouds. The Great Lakes get evaporation fog too.
How do …

The International Joint Commission recently highlighted the need for consistent beach monitoring throughout the Great Lakes region.