Lake Michigan Missing Fish

A lake wide prey fish survey shows the volume of small fish has dropped by half in just the last year. Meanwhile the volume of invasive mussels has increased to levels that few biologists predicted. Those mussels make their living on the plankton upon which fish species depend. The situation has scientists and anglers worried about the future of the fishery, a multibillion Great Lakes industry.

36,400 towers on Lake Michigan

Plans are in the wind that would involve placing hundreds of 325-foot wind turbines, or windmills, on floating anchor points 22 miles off the Lake Michigan shoreline that couldn't be seen from land. The winds over Lake Michigan are some of the strongest and steadiest in the country, rivaling those of the upper Great Plains and Rocky Mountains.

A power consultant has calculated that an 8,806-square mile area in the middle of Lake Michigan from northern Beaver Island to southern Chicago could house 36,400 towers, spaced 2,050 feet apart, and still not be seen from the shoreline. They would generate 182,000 megawatts of power, the equivalent to 180 large nuclear power plants.

Lake Superior water level on rebound

The great lakes appear headed to an all-time low level this month, but Lake Superior is holding its own. The amount of rain and snow that fell on the Lake Superior basin in December was well above normal, and that seems to be helping the lake recover from a with a 14-month-long drought that dropped the lake to almost record low levels.

Dead Loons in the Great Lakes

Hundreds of dead loons have washed up on the shores of the Great Lakes in the last few months, and scientists say they don't know exactly what is killing them.

It is thought the loons died after eating bad fish contaminated with Type E botulism, a common bacteria which grows on the bottom of lakes and is spread by zebra mussels and quagga mussels. The mussels which are then consumed by fish, and the fish are then consumed by the loons.