Are there zebra mussels in Lake Michigan?

Are there zebra mussels in Lake Michigan?

With billions of them inhabiting Lake Michigan, it doesn’t take long to filter a large body of water. Zebra mussels clog intake pipes at water treatment facilities and power plants. They filter valuable nutrients from lakes and rivers. Because they eat plankton, they disrupt food chains and displace native species.

Where are zebra mussels found in Michigan?

Habitat: Freshwater lakes, rivers, and reservoirs.

Are zebra mussels invasive in Michigan?

Zebra mussels are considered an invasive species in Michigan and are listed as an injurious species under the federal Lacey Act. They are extremely efficient filter feeders that can negatively affect aquatic ecosystems, clog water intake pipes and be a nuisance to boaters and swimmers.

Why are zebra mussels bad for Lake Michigan?

Coating pipes One of the more well-known problems with zebra mussels is the way they rapidly coat water intake pipes, which is a problem for drinking water treatment plants, power plants and any other industry that’s pulling water out of the lakes through a pipe.

Where are zebra mussels found in the Great Lakes?

Clair, located between Lake Huron and Lake Erie. By 1990, zebra mussels had been found in all five Great Lakes. Over the next two years they made their way out of the Great Lakes through canals and into the Illinois, Hudson, Arkansas, Cumberland, Hudson, Mississippi, Ohio, and Tennessee rivers.

How do you get rid of zebra mussels on a boat?

Biologists who have studied zebra mussels recommend using high-pressure hot water to remove and kill zebra mussels that are attached to your boat hull (use water >104 degrees F if possible). It is okay to use high-pressure cold water if hot water is not available.

How many zebra mussels are in Lake Michigan?

Declining Density in Lake Michigan Over a period of 15 years, zebra mussel densities in Lake Michigan declined from 5,200 per square meter on average to 82 animals per square meter.

How do you get rid of zebra mussels in the Great Lakes?

What you can do to stop the spread of the invasive zebra mussel:

1. Inspect boat, trailer, and other recreational equipment that have been in contact with water.
2. Remove all mud, plants, or animals.
3. Drain all bilge water, live wells, bait buckets, and all other water from your boat, engine and equipment.

How do you get rid of zebra mussels in a lake?

A 2% chlorine bleach solution is effective at killing zebra mussels when cleaning boating equipment or other gear away from waterbodies. A bacterial formulation is currently being researched, which uses a native soil bacterium to kill zebra mussels without causing other damage to the ecosystem.

Where are zebra mussels found now?

The first established population was discovered in 1988 at Lake St. Clair, which straddles the border between the U.S. and Canada and which connects to Lake Erie and Lake Huron. They quickly spread across the Great Lakes, and are now present in the Mississippi and St. Croix Rivers as far north as Stillwater.

Are zebra mussels in the Great Lakes?

Zebra mussels probably arrived in the Great Lakes in the 1980s via ballast water that was discharged by large ships from Europe. They have spread rapidly throughout the Great Lakes region and into the large rivers of the eastern Mississippi drainage.

How do you get zebra mussels out of a lake?

What is the zebra mussel doing to Lake Michigan?

But you heard right–zebra mussels are filtering Lake Michigan’s once-turbid water. The accompanying color change is due to an increase in Cladophora, a type of green algae that thrives on the sunlight that now penetrates farther into the lake’s depths.

What can kill Zebra mussels?

In situations where zebra mussels are found in an isolated area or in a small water body, it may be possible to kill all the target zebra mussels using pesticides. Even if the mussels are killed, their shells will persist and can remain attached to surfaces even after the animals are dead.

How did zebra mussels get into the Great Lake?

The zebra mussel is native to Eastern Europe and Western Russia. The species was unintentionally introduced into the United States’ Great Lakes through the discharge of contaminated cargo ship ballast water. They were first discovered in the Great Lakes in 1988 and were first confirmed in the Duluth/Superior Harbor in 1989.

What are facts about zebra mussels?

Appearance. Zebra mussels are small animals with a striped, D-shaped shell composed of two hinged valves joined by a ligament. The shells are typically one-quarter inch to one and one-half inches long, depending on age, with alternating yellow and brownish colored stripes. Adults are typically fingernail-sized.