written by Alexander Karatayev and Lyubov Burlakova
In July 2022, due to the U.S. EPA R/V Lake Guardian being under repairs, we had a unique opportunity to do the benthic survey of Lake Huron on the Canadian Coast Guard coastal research and survey vessel Limnos. At the beginning, this cruise was full of misfires: we lacked some equipment, had to work with a different winch, and there were no marine technicians to help with sample collection. The first week was a challenge, but then everything normalized and we enjoyed the survey and the ship. Kelly Bowen, biologist at Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO), along with the Captain and crew were doing everything possible and more to accommodate us. The cooks, especially the pastry chef, were excellent to the point of being dangerous. Anyhow, we survived all the blunders and dangers and storms and collected benthic samples and video images from 130 stations lakewide. During this survey, we set up many new stations in the North Channel, and with our Benthic Imaging System discovered robust dreissenid populations at nearshore areas where we could not collect Ponar samples from hard substrates. We are very thankful to DFO and Limnos for help and hospitality, and thank everyone for excellent results!
Image caption: Our crew: James Watkins (Cornell), Lyuba Burlakova, Linda Haltiner (PhD Student, EAWAG, Switzerland), Allison Hrycik, Annie Scofield (US EPA GLNPO), Rachel Orzechoswki and Paul Glyshaw (NOAA).
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