Northland College

Northland College
  • Academics
  • Campus Life
  • Admissions
  • Athletics
  • Centers
  • Sustainability
Search
  • Directory
  • Campus Map
  • Calendar
  • Alumni
  • Giving
  • News
  • COVID-19
More...
  • Academics
    • Undergraduate
    • Faculty
    • Resources
    • Opportunities
      • Internships
      • Undergraduate Research
      • Study Abroad
      • Off-campus Learning
      • Student Jobs
    • Graduate Success
    • Course Catalog
    • Transcript Request
    • Commencement
  • Campus Life
    • Dining
    • Housing
    • Outdoor Orientation
    • Diversity & Inclusion
      • Indigenous Cultures Center
        • Native Student Offerings
        • Powwow & Awareness
        • Community Outreach
        • Native American Museum
    • Get Involved
    • Bicycles & Gear Rental
    • Fitness Center
    • Services
      • Counseling Services
      • Accommodations
      • Health Services
      • Safety & Security
  • Admissions
    • Visit Campus
    • Tuition
    • Financial Aid
      • Scholarships
      • Grants
      • Loans
      • FAFSA
      • Veterans
    • Enroll
    • Meet Your Admissions Counselor
    • College Fairs
  • Athletics
    • Athletic Website
    • Athletic Facilities
    • Varsity Club Membership
    • Buy Team Gear
    • Hall of Fame
    • Annual Golf Classic
    • Camps, Leagues, Tournaments
      • 3on3 Basketball Tournament
      • Basketball Camps & Leagues
      • Youth Soccer Camp
      • Softball Camp
      • Volleyball Camps & Leagues
    • Give to Athletics
  • Centers
    • Mary Griggs Burke Center for Freshwater Innovation
      • Our Work
      • Student Research Opportunities
      • Lab Services
      • Burke Center in the News
      • Water Summit
    • Center for Rural Communities
      • Rural Livelihood Initiatives
        • Quality of Life Database
        • Northwoods Community Survey
        • Opinion Polls
        • Local Food Systems
      • Human-Environment Connection
      • Publications
      • Data Visualizations
      • Student Opportunities
    • Sigurd Olson Environmental Institute
      • LoonWatch
        • About Loons
        • Protect Loons
        • Get Involved
        • Loon Appreciation Week and Poster
      • Timber Wolf Alliance
        • Wolf Awareness Week and Poster
        • Learn About Wolves
        • TWA Speakers Bureau
        • Wolf Status Reports
        • Vision for Wolves
        • Great Lakes Wolf Symposium
      • Youth Outreach Programs
      • SONWA Book Awards
        • SONWA Seals
      • Sigurd Olson Legacy
      • Apostle Islands Stewardship Symposium
      • Intangible Magazine
      • Forest Lodge Educational Campus
        • Rental Information
    • Hulings Rice Food Center
      • Compost Center
      • Larson Food Lab
      • Campus Gardens
      • Student Opportunities
  • Sustainability
  • Alumni
    • Alumni Board
      • Alumni Awards
    • Get Involved
      • Ask Our Alumni Panels
    • Pride Pack, Apparel, and Merchandise
    • Class Notes
    • Transcript Request
    • Update Your Information
    • Events
    • Give
    • Oral History Project
  • Giving
    • Christopher T. Morgan Scholarship
    • Meet Our Team
  • About Northland
    • President Chadwick L. Dayton
    • Northland College Magazine
    • Campus Sculpture Tour
    • Advocacy & Public Discourse
    • Consumer Information

Surveying Mussels in the Apostle Islands

Discovery of First Invasives

By  By Kyle Antholt ’19
April 11, 2020

Share

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • email

Research Associate Dr. Toben Lafrancois was shooting underwater photographs during a National Park Service resource inspection near Sand Island on Lake Superior in the summer of 2015 when the team noticed something attached to the bottom of a sunken steamboat. As Lafrancois picked it up, he and the team suspected they had found the first invasive zebra mussel situated in the Apostle Islands. The University of Minnesota Aquatic Invasive Species Research Center confirmed their finding.

This discovery resulted in the first survey of the Apostle Islands mussel communities since 1991, when Wildlife Biologist Thomas Doolittle ’80 surveyed in the area. Since 2015, Lafrancois and other researchers have built on Doolittle’s survey, adding the zebra mussel along with another invasive, the quagga, to the survey inventory. They also confirmed five of the eight native species remain.

While there are two known zebra mussel communities in Lake Superior—in the major ports of Duluth, Minnesota, and Thunder Bay, Ontario—mussels generally have a tough go in Lake Superior because the lake is too cold and doesn’t offer enough nutrients to sustain them. The discovery of mussel communities in the Apostle Islands has raised questions about how these mussels survive.

“Is it genetic variance? A localized situation? We still don’t know,” said Mark Hove of the Minnesota Aquatic Invasive Species Research Center. “We are still working with a variety of experts with specializations in areas from mussels to lake chemistry. It might be another year before there is a definitive conclusion.”

Having led more than thirty dives with the National Park Service regional dive team with the support of the Apostle Islands National Lake Shore and Great Lakes Inventory and Monitoring Network, Lafrancois and Hove, in conjunction with the EPA, have begun mapping the mussel communities in the Apostle Islands and collecting samples of the invasive species for lab work.

Zebra and quagga mussels have worked their way through the Great Lakes and are infamous for their ability to reproduce exponentially and out-compete other species for food, causing over-filtration and effectively damaging aquatic systems. They also can clog up coastal infrastructure, such as pipes, that can have adverse inland effects as well.

Lafrancois and other researchers report the density of these invasive mussel communities have been fairly low in the Apostle Islands but surprisingly wide-spread throughout coastal areas.

“Right now, they are manageable,” said Andy Teal, the aquatic invasive species coordinator for Bayfield County. However, experts know that without close monitoring and control of the situation, the invasive mussels could cause irreparable damage to the National Lakeshore, the shipwrecks, and the marinas.

“At current densities and distributions, one of the most consistent means of clearing invasive mussels is by manually diving and removing them, Lafrancois said. “Work by divers from UW-Milwaukee at Sleeping Bear Dunes National Park shows this is effective, however at a very local scale.”

Lafrancois emphasizes that diving is just one tool—“and at current conditions, I think a strong one, but it’s only part of a larger effort,” he said. “The bottom line is that viral agents and other chemical control measures are extremely expensive.”

Lake Superior is the largest freshwater lake in the world “so prevention is key as we struggle to manage what is already here,” Lafrancois added.

Along with other research and volunteer dive teams, Lafrancois is working to coordinate efforts to remove the zebra and quagga mussels, determine their distribution, and whether they are increasing in density.

Lafrancois would like to get students to aid in mussel removal as an ecologically interactive educational experience. Students of all ages could help guide underwater retrieval vessels around docks, learn to snorkel around the more shallow shipwrecks, and provide aid in the research labs.

“With students, I can create a unique and rich educational experience that teaches them they have agency over their surroundings,” he said. “And at the same time, we can alleviate the problem of invasive mussels in Lake Superior.”

  • Northland student Andy Kasun takes a water sample.

    Burke Researchers Assess 11 Inland Lakes

    In 2015, the Mary Griggs Burke Center for Freshwater Innovation initiated the Penokee Lakes project to provide an assessment of the quality of eleven inland…

    Burke Researchers Assess 11 Inland Lakes
  • Northland College student Andy Kasun conducts water research.

    Five Years at the Burke Center

    Rocking gently on a boat in Lake Superior’s Chequamegon Bay, undoing the latch for the acoustic doppler current profiler, setting the instrument upright to dip…

    Five Years at the Burke Center
  • Northland College alumnus Joe Fitzgerald on stage.

    The Place Where You Start

    There are those who dream of a socially just world and there are those who dare to make that dream a reality. Joe Fitzgerald, a…

    The Place Where You Start
  • Northland students with the Mary Griggs Burke Center doing field research

    And the Emmy Goes To . . .

    A PBS documentary featuring researchers with the Mary Griggs Burke Center for Freshwater Innovation has been awarded an Emmy by the National Academy of Television…

    And the Emmy Goes To . . .
  • Visit
  • Info
  • Apply

News

  • Northland College to Help Finlandia University Students Continue Their Education with the Sisu Promise

    Northland College is launching the Sisu Promise to support Finlandia University students…

  • From the Archives: A Guide and Outfitter for the Northwoods

    In the entryway to the Sigurd Olson Environmental Institute building on the…

  • The Text Effect

    If you had asked me at any point before my senior year…

  • From the Archives: Giving a Voice to Intangibles

    The Sigurd Olson Environmental Institute archives include a small, saddle-stitched pamphlet titled…

  • From the Archives: Forest Lodge on Lake Namekagon

    In the summer of 1994, a number of individuals with homes or…

  • From the Archives: The Chequamegon Bay Area Partnership

    Chequamegon Bay and the wetlands and waterways associated with it are one…

  • For the Love of Learning

    In the spring of 1965, I graduated from high school and looked…

  • From the Archives: The Sigurd Olson Legacy Project

    In the fall of 1937, Sigurd Olson converted a one-car garage located…

  • From the Archives: Promoting Nature-focused Literature for Children

    In a 2003 press release, the Sigurd Olson Environmental Institute announced that…

  • From the Archives: Lake Superior Programs at the Sigurd Olson Environmental Institute

    It’s just a short walk from the Sigurd Olson Environmental Institute through…

News Archive »

1411 Ellis Avenue
Ashland, WI 54806
(715) 682-1699 | Map
  • About Northland
  • Constitution Day at Northland
  • Consumer Information
  • Privacy Policy
  • Take a Class
  • Employment
  • Campus Store

my.northland.edu

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • YouTube

Copyright © 2023 Northland College. All rights reserved.

https://www.northland.edu/news/surveying-mussels-in-the-apostle-islands

Our website uses cookies for necessary functions and to enhance your browsing experience. Learn more in our Privacy Policy.

Accept & Continue