Invasive species in the lake

[Diver1111]

I have seen huge amounts of invasive growth on the bottom of Winnipesaukee although this varies widely place to place-Paugus and Lees Mills come to mind among others; I have posted here a sonar image of a plant invasive in Paugus covering acres. Plant invasives there can be so thick they present a wall 6 feet high and so dense swimming through it is impossible.

That brings me to Shellfish invasives, not something I have seen yet in the big lake.

In 2013 I attended a sonar training course at North West Michigan College on Lake Michigan. One of the instructors at the college told the class that quagga and zebra mussels (filter feeders) are so bad in Lake Michigan that scientists estimate that the entire contents of Lake Michigan are filtered through the present mussel population every 8 days..

Another diver/sonar operator I came across named Dan Scoville hunts wrecks in the Great Lakes. The photographs he took with his ROV (remotely operated vehicle) below showing invasive mussels completely covering wrecks speaks for itself. It's unbelievable. If you doubt the power they have to affect a body of water, look closely at their sheer numbers on these wrecks.

The collateral damage from them is really bad.

This said if you ever see an odd accumulation of small shellfish I would strongly suggest you email DES a photo describing where they were located what were they attached to.

Two major offenders you are looking for is the Quagga mussel and the Zebra mussel, both generally about 1" long.

Note there are fresh water clams in the lake that are not invasives to my knowledge. I feed bass with them now and then.

These Shellfish invasives will also clog pipe inlets, cover outboards and anything else they can get a foothold on, and are a true scourge.

Lake Champlain already has a problem with an assortment of invasives so if it can happen there it can happen here. Read more here:

http://www.lakechamplaincommittee.or...ecies-in-lake/

Just a heads-up to please be vigilant and watch for them. These things border on plain evil, killing all sorts of other marine life that are in their path.

Start by cleaning you boat well when you travel from one body of water to another esp. the anchor well.