Great Lakes

Toast to Water Conservation!

The Great Lakes team is heading to Discovery World In Milwaukee, Wisconsin for the Great Lakes Craft Brewers & Water Conservation Conference.  Monday, October 26 is SPLASH!: a public event for audiences to sample craft beer and cheese tastings, plus a buffet dinner catered by Bartolotta’s.  Best of all you will learn about the water saving measures craft brewers are implementing and water conservation measures you can make at home!  Come hear keynote speakers Jake Leinenkugel, president of the Jacob Leinenkugel Brewing Co. and Marc Smith Great Lakes program Director of the National Wildlife Federation.

Find out more information or purchase tickets online here. 

Coastal Clean Up Results

THANK YOU to the 275 volunteers who came out to 12th Street Beach last Saturday to help clean the beach for the International Coastal Clean Up.  The results were amazing!  Check it out:

• Total number of cigarette butts collected and properly disposed - 2,003
• Total number of plastic bags collected and properly disposed - 305
• Total number of food wrappers collected and properly disposed - 670
• Total number of beverage caps collected and properly disposed - 447
• Total number of plastic bottles collected and properly disposed - 86
• Total number of lighters collected and properly disposed - 22
• Total number of batteries collected and properly disposed - 7
• Total weight of recyclable items recovered from the beach - 120 pounds
• Total weight of garbage recovered from the beach - 234 pounds
• Total weight of items collected from the beach - 354!!

After each beach sweep it becomes clear that the simple things you do can make a difference.  Always recycle bottles and cans, never throw your picnic garbage in the sand and remember that the beach is not an ash tray. 

The last two beach sweep dates are Saturday October 3 and Friday October 23.  To join us email Listentoyourlakes@sheddaquarium.org. 

Pizza Man Loves Lake Michigan

Our friends Joe, John and Marty from Aurelio's Pizza stopped by 12th Street Beach to help keep our waterways safe and clean.  Twenty Shedd Aquarium employees and several volunteers from St. Paul's youth Group collected 101 pounds of garbage and properly disposed of 41 pounds of recyclables.  Plus, we picked up 200 cigarette butts which are dangerous for birds and young beach goers. 

A special appearance from Pizza Man was an extra surprise for the Great Lakes conservation team and our hardworking volunteers!  Though Pizza Man did not do much in the way of cleaning he certainly helped keep our energy levels high with lots of delicious Aurelio's pizza!

Don't know who Pizza Man is??  Watch the video to find out!

--Posted by Elizabeth, conservation

Rainfall Means Higher Lake Levels

Above average precipitation this year has resulted in higher lake levels in the Great Lakes region.  But just two years ago the Great Lakes were just three inches short of an all time low set in 1964.  Learn more about this by watching our interview on Fox TV.

When talking about lake levels it's important to recognize that the lakes are not a limitless resource.  We have 20 percent of the world's freshwater in our region but need to protect it in order to sustain the resource well into our future.  Water conservation is still very important no matter if the lakes are at an all time high or an all time low. 

--Posted by Kurt, fishes

Lake Levels Rising

In the past couple months water levels in Lake Michigan and the other Great Lakes have been rising.  The National Oceanic and Atmosphere Administration website charts lake levels and records that information daily.

It is great for our ecosystem that water levels are rising but we must put this information in context.  Lake levels fluctuate two or three feet naturally over the course of 20 years.  Weather patterns and natural cycles of the earth contribute to this change.  Though the lake levels are rising right now we still need to be aware of the stresses that climate change may play on our water supply in the future.  We still need to make smart water choices in our homes even though it looks like we are awash in water right now.

--Posted by Kurt, fishes

Native Gardening Tips

Planting season has begun! If you are planning your garden this year here are four good water conservation tips to keep in mind:

• Conserve water – a healthy lawn only needs one to two inches of water per week.

• Minimize evaporation by watering your lawn or garden during the early morning hours, when temperatures are cooler and winds are lighter.

• Disconnect your downspout and direct it toward landscaped areas.  Or try catching rain in a rain barrel or cistern for later use.

• Consider a porous design for your garden path.  This allows water to reach the underlying soil and replenish groundwater.

Christine, horticulture 

Protect your pastime

At Shedd, we have a special relationship with the creatures inhabiting the Earth’s waters. Even the smallest amount of mercury can be deadly to fish – and anything that eats them. In 1996, we took a first step in eliminating mercury through a lighting retrofit. By changing the kind of fluorescent tube lights that we use, we eliminated more than 61 grams of mercury, or the equivalent of 87 thermometers’ worth of the toxic substance, building-wide. The current tubes that we use, although ecofriendly, still contain trace amounts of mercury, so we dispose of burned-out lights through a company that recycles them within our specifications. Since 2002, we’ve prevented a further 11 thermometers’ worth of mercury from contaminating a landfill or as much as 16 acres of water.

I grew up in a small town and used to walk to a pond to go fishing. I just caught little sunfish and bluegills, but for a kid, it was a thrill. Wouldn’t it be a shame if kids today were deprived of this childhood ritual because the water or the aquatic life in their local pond was contaminated? By recycling these fluorescent tubes – and getting others around me to participate as well – I feel that I’m looking out for the future of our environment and for the future of those kids, wherever they may go fishing!

-- Posted by Susan, facilities

Great Lakes on the big screen

"If you could take everyone on this continent on an expedition from one end of the Great Lakes to the other, you would change the way that they look at these natural treasures."

That was the thought behind Canadian film producer David Lickley's movie Mysteries of the Great Lakes playing now at Imax and Omnimax theaters around the basin.  I recently saw this movie at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago and absolutely loved it.  It was incredible to see footage of ship wrecks, caribou in the wild and the beautiful bluffs of Lake Superior.  Watching this movie made me proud to live in the Great Lakes region.  I give the film two thumbs up!

For teachers, the film has an educator's guide to use after your students see the movie.  Check it out!

--Posted by Elizabeth, conservation

CLIMATE CHANGE MEANS CHANGE FOR GREAT LAKES

I recently attended and presented at the Tribal Climate Change Symposium in Milwaukee organized by EPA Region 5.  This meeting specifically addressed climate change in the Great Lakes region, how Native American tribes are being affected now, future ramifications for these tribes and what they can do to help mitigate the effects.

I learned a lot about climate change, and in particular, the results of some studies going on in the Great Lakes region.  One presentation that I found particularly interesting was about moose in northern Minnesota.  Northern Minnesota is moose’s southernmost range and unfortunately, the moose population is dwindling.  A wildlife biologist from the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Reservation in Northeastern Minnesota presented his findings that moose there are dying at higher rates in northern Minnesota than elsewhere in North America.  He believes that this is happening directly and indirectly from climate change.  Heat stress and winter survival of parasitic diseases are the primary reasons for mortality in the population of moose he is studying.  Milder winters are allowing parasites to survive and spread when previously harsh Minnesota winters used to kill them. 

The affects of climate change have been showing up in lots of different ways.  This specific example serves an another reminder that the Great Lakes ecosystem is  more than the water – it is the land, the wildlife and the people who live near them.  Everything is connected.  We depend on the Great Lakes just as much as they depend on us.

Posted by Melanie Napoleon, conservation

Listening to Your Lakes on the radio

Today's blog was written by Elizabeth, Great Lakes conservation coordinator

Just to clear things up, Lake Michigan did not conduct any interviews over the radio waves as the title of this blog suggests.  But a representative spoke on behalf of these magnificent bodies of water that desperately need our help.

Earlier this year, Melanie Napoleon, Director of Great Lakes conservation, spoke with Karen Williams of Clear Channel radio WNUA.  The two ladies chatted about the Great Lakes and why it is important to protect this wonderful natural resource. 

At one point Melanie mentioned the four threats facing the Great Lakes, "pollution, invasive species, water over-use and loss of habitat for wildlife." Learn more about these threats facing the Great Lakes and what you can do to help: Download Melanie Napoleon talks about the Great Lakes-Shedd