Written by Lillian Denecke
The GLC took part in another year of sampling during the summer survey aboard the R/V Lake Guardian this past August as a part of the Great Lakes National Program Office Biology Monitoring Program. The sampling cruise was completed on time again this year, with only a couple minor delays for weather. A total of 186 benthic samples were successfully collected from 62 stations by Nikolai Barulin, Mimi Byrne, and Lillian Denecke. This year, scientists on board the ship had the opportunity to share with the public what life is like on the ship and what type of research is done, as public tours were given at port stops in Detroit, Rochester, and Sault Ste Marie.
Nikolai and Lillian flew to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on July 31st to board the ship with many researchers from other institutions and prepare to depart for sampling the following morning. The first leg of the survey covered lakes Michigan and Huron. During this leg, Nikolai and Lillian assisted researchers from University of Minnesota Duluth with their research by collecting Dreissena samples with the benthic sled. The samples will be analyzed for PFAS as part of a master’s thesis project. In Lake Michigan, the ship took a detour into Muskegon Lake to collect a sediment core, which was an exciting diversion.
After a port stop in Detroit with public tours, both Nikolai and Lillian stayed on board for the second leg of the survey on lakes Erie and Ontario. During the sampling of Erie, waves became rough which resulted in a 24-hour port stop in Cleveland, where everyone was happy to stretch their legs and explore the city while the weather subsided. Once the weather improved, the survey continued with the rest of Lake Erie, a quick trip through the Welland Canal, and then Lake Ontario. In Lake Ontario, another sediment core was collected in Henderson Bay at the eastern end of the lake. Leg two ended in Rochester where Nikolai departed, and Lillian stayed on for the final leg.
The final leg of summer survey was in Lake Superior. The ship traveled back through the Welland Canal and through lakes Erie and Michigan to Sault Ste Marie where Mimi Byrne flew to meet the ship and board. Lillian and Mimi sampled the last lake of the survey and enjoyed the views on Lake Superior, from the millions of stars to the wildernesses on the north shore. The ship stopped in Superior, Wisconsin, halfway through the final leg. On the way back towards Sault Ste Marie, the ship anchored for a few hours in remote Heron Bay along the northern shore to wait out some inclement weather. While Lillian spent the whole time looking for moose, unfortunately none were spotted. The ship arrived back in Sault Ste Marie on August 29th. Lillian and Mimi were incredibly grateful for Susan Daniel for coming to pick them and the samples up to transport back to Buffalo. They enjoyed a scenic ride through Ontario, Canada, along the northern shore of Lake Huron before arriving back in Buffalo after another successful summer survey.
Image caption: R/V Lake Guardian coming to port at the end of the survey in Sault Ste Marie.
