Shipwreck Hunter: Deep, Dark & Deadly in the Great Lakes

For people interested in the Great Lakes the book, Shipwreck Hunter: Deep, Dark & Deadly in the Great Lakes by Gerald Volgenau may be of intrest.

Ban on diversions of away Great Lakes water

A coalition of northwestern Indiana environmentalists and businesses are urging state lawmakers to approve a multistate Great Lakes agreement that would ban most diversions of water from the lakes to water-hungry states. With few exceptions, the proposed agreement would ban new and increased water diversions from the Great Lakes unless approved by the governors of the eight Great Lakes states and the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec.

New Mexico Wants Great Lakes Water

New Mexico Gov. and Democratic presidential candidate Bill Richardson told a Las Vegas newspaper that he would bring northern states into the discussion of how to help water-poor states in the Southwest solve their shortage problems.
"I believe the Western states and Eastern states have not been talking to each other when it comes to proper use of our water resources, I want a national water policy. We need a dialogue between states to deal with issues like water conservation, water reuse technology, water delivery and water production. States like Wisconsin are awash in water."

Sturgeon Lake boating mishap, 15-year-old dead.

Provincial police were called to a break-in near Bobcaygeon that indirectly led them to the discovery of a teen's body floating in Sturgeon Lake on Saturday.
They believe a boat with six youths capsized on Friday night and five of the youths managed to reach safety.

New Restrictions Prohibiting Ballast Water Discharges

Emergency restrictions go into effect today prohibiting ballast water discharges and exchanges in the waters of Isle Royale National Park by freighters and recreational boaters. The move is aimed at preventing the spread of viral hemorrhagic septicemia to fish communities in and surrounding the park. Isle Royale National Park’s waters extend four and a half miles from the island’s shore in all directions. They overlap two shipping routes from the Soo Locks to Thunder Bay, Ontario.

Invasive Gobie Fish Spreading Through Great Lakes

The Round Gobie is an aggressive and voracious bottom dweller from China that drives away small native fish in the Great Lakes. University of Michigan fishery biologist David Jude discovered the round gobies in the Great Lakes in 1990. Scientists have been trying to figure out exactly how they got there, and how they quickly spread to all five lakes ever since.

Oceangoing freighters were the prime suspects. But round gobies are bottom-dwelling fish, so how could significant numbers of them get inside ships? Now Scientists think they have the answer.

At night during the summer breeding season, newly hatched round gobies leave their lake-bottom homes and swim to the surface. This nocturnal migration greatly increases the chances that large numbers of hatching's will get sucked into the ballast tanks of freighters.

So, who owns the lakebed?

Who owns the lakebed? Who controls the water? Who would issue building permits? Those are questions that don't have definitive answers.

Read more at
http://www.thestar.com/living/article/253236

Lake Erie Plane Crash.

A small plane crash into Lake Erie Monday. The single-engine plane went down about a kilometre off shore after taking off from the Kelleys Island airport.

Great Lakes near record lows

Lake Superior, the world's largest freshwater lake is nearing its lowest level in more than 80 years.
A regional 18-month drought is to blame, panelists from Environment Canada and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers told reporters in a telephone conference yesterday.
The drought is also set to continue, they said. Forecasts point to average monthly record lows in the lake's level for August, September and October, with an all-time low expected sometime this fall.
Longer-term forecasts show a chance of wetter weather, which could mitigate the problem in the new year, they said.

Three missing on Georgian Bay

Coast Guard vessels and Police are continuing to search Georgian Bay this morning after three Sudbury teens failed to return from a boat trip yesterday.
The three young men in a 15-foot steel motorboatset off on the trip to Fraser Bay at 4 p.m. in the north end of Georgian Bay, near Killarney, Ont. Five Coast Guard vessels searched for the teens throughout the night and a military helicopter left Trenton this morning.

Teens rescued from drifting boat on Georgian Bay

Two teens in a rowboat were carried out into the open waters of Georgian Bay by 15-knot winds and metre-high waves. They were found after a marine and air search effort located them 13 kilometres offshore from Balm Beach.
The two were found around 5:40 p.m. yesterday after a Hercules transport plane from CFB Trenton's search and rescue team, spotted their tiny craft bobbing in the swells. The two were taken to Midland hospital and released.

Police have seized the boat involved in death of girl

Ontario Provincial Police have seized the boat involved in the death of a seven year old girl to determine why a tow bar collapsed, causing a piece of metal to strike the girl in the head.
Police are trying to determine what happened to the tow bar, a device that can be installed by a boat manufacturer or owner. The investigation will look at the manufacturer, whether the installation was done properly and whether it was properly maintained.

Great Lakes is losing 9.5 billion litres of water a day

The Great Lakes basin is losing almost 9.5 billion litres of water a day and must be patched up by the Canadian and American governments, environmental groups said Tuesday.
Navigation dredging, riverbed mining and shoreline alteration on the St. Clair River near Port Huron, Mich., and Sarnia, Ont., have affected the flow of the Great Lakes and is draining water into the Atlantic Ocean at a rate that's three times greater than original estimates. Water levels in lakes Michigan and Huron and the Georgian Bay have fallen 60 centimetres since 1970.
The loss of water is senseless and will negatively affect water quality in the Great Lakes, as well as boating, fishing and commercial shipping.

IJC Leaves Boaters High And Dry

In response to the growing concerns over the dropping water levels seen on the Great Lakes in the last few years, the International Joint Commission recently assembled individuals to participate on a critical five year International Upper Great Lakes Study. The study will, among other objectives, “determine the factors that affect water levels and flows in the upper lakes.” The IJC also stated that it would “appoint a public interest advisory group to assist the study board” in order to make “sure that the views of the public are given due consideration.

However the 6 million boaters who use the lakes each year have been left high and dry. According to the International Joint Commission, they don’t deserve to have their voices heard despite the $16 billion in funds those boaters contribute to local economies and the direct effect the study will have on this large group of citizens.

The IJC appointed to the study board representatives of seven conservation organizations, a representative of a coastal landowners’ organization, a representative of the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa, a representative from a Canadian shipping group and a private citizen.

It is unfortunate that the IJC has chosen to leave out boaters. One can only hope the "private citizen" is a boater.