I just read the article in your paper. It sounds like the zebra hasn't yet hit your area, which is good. But it also seems the legislature isn't doing much to prevent an infestation, which is terrible. The same is true here in Massachusetts, unfortunately. We are surrounded by states that already have had the problem for a dozen years but nothing has been done in this state regarding prevention, even though we have calcium-rich water, which is what the little monsters need to develop, and recreational as opposed to commercial lakes, which could have had preventive measures in place without harming anyone's livelihood long before they actually hit us. A terrible tragedy in the making.
A few more facts: zebra mussels have no serious predators in this country, though they are eaten by a few ducks and fish; they remove plankton and other nutrients as well as oxygen from the water, causing fish and other mussels to die off; they eventually totally cover anything solid they come close to, such as docks, boat bottoms, rocks, other mussels, beaches; they clean the water, which sounds like a good thing, especially for swimmers, but isn't since this allows more sunlight to reach noxious weeds like milfoil which then proliferate in deeper water; their larvae are microscopic, so that even if the adults can be killed or at least cleaned off a boat by power washing with hot water and bleach, the eggs may still be on life vests, ropes, wet areas on the boat, fishing gear, or diving equipment, and spread to other waters if this equipment is then used there. The adults die after 3 or 4 years, after which they clog up beaches and give the area a sewer-like smell. Your lake is safe if it is low in calcium, meaning if you are west of the lime deposits that are prevalent in our areas of the country, and if you succeed in keeping out contaminated boats.
The zebras first landed in the Great Lakes area in 1988, brought over from Europe by ships who dumped their contaminated ballast water there. They have since spread down the Mississippi and Hudson Rivers, and affected fresh waterways far and wide. They can be barely noticed one year, and be everywhere the next.
So, Eric, hopefully our respective governments will take stronger measures to protect our areas before it's too late.
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