News: Lake Erie 'Dead Zone' Studied by NOAA team

By Mike O'Mara

CLEVELAND (WKYC)-- Low oxygen levels detected are driving fish away

For the last two years, the "Laurentian", an 80 foot floating marine laboratory, has been heading out into Lake Erie.

The special team of 40 scientists from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Research Laboratory and 17 different universities are all trying to figure out what is making Lake Erie sick.

Stephen Brandt is the Director of the NOAA Great Lakes Environmental Research Lab. He is the person running the largest, most comprehensive research field operations every conducted in Lake Erie.

Said Brandt, "people need to understand that we're seeing large scale production of algae and plant life that dies off and sinks to the bottom. When it decays it begins to use up the oxygen. And if it uses up all the oxygen on the bottom, it becomes a dead zone."

Back in the 1970's, many scientists feared that all of Lake Erie was becoming a dead zone. The culprit seemed to be too much phosphates and pollution in the waters draining into Lake Erie that produced choking algae blooms.

Onboard the "Laurentian", NOAA science technician Andrew Yagiela, lowers a probe into the brownish green water.

"This gear", said Yagiela, "will automatically record the levels of sunlight, the flourometer, the oxygen, the temperature, and the conductivity. And this is just one of our tools out here."

Nearby, Mike Quigley was lowering a specially designed lake bottom sediment probe.

"We're looking for organisms near the bottom right now", explained Quigley. "They're useful for determing water quality because they live on the bottom 24-7, and if you have any contaminants or pollutants they won't be there."

Craig McLean, NOAA deputy assistant administrator for research, told Channel 3's Mike O'Mara, "if we find there is no oxygen or very low levels, we also find that it's a dead zone. The walleye and yellow perch will leave. And we know that our human activity contributes to the creation of these dead zones."

"Right now", added Stuart Ludsen, chief scientist for the Lake Erie field study, "the biggest area of concern is the central basin of Lake Erie. The deepest part of the lake is becoming a dead zone. We need to figure out why."

The data from thousands of Lake Erie water and sediment samples will be analyzed and categorized by the NOAA science team. The future of this fresh water sea may depend on the answers generated onboard the "Laurentian".

To Watch Video of Mike O'Mara's report on Lake Erie, CLICK HERE