Map of Great Lakes Areas of Concern: Image: Adapted from U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Editor’s note: This is the final part of a 5-part series by Kalah Harris, Audrey Porter, Yue Jiang and Claire Moore that focuses on trans-border U.S. and Canadian environmental research projects.
By Audrey Porter
During 35 years of restoration in the Great Lakes Areas of Concern, there has been gradual progress and a hopeful future ahead, according to a new study.
Development of a remedial action plan began in 1985 to restore heavily contaminated sites in 42 Great Lakes Areas of Concern (AOCs).
AOC restoration has not been easy as U.S. and Canadian researchers said in the study, and it requires focusing on gathering stakeholders, coordinating efforts and ensuring use restoration.
19SHARES
Sites of collection for egg data. (1) Granite Island, (2) Agawa Rocks, (3) Gull Island, (4) Double Island, (5) Chantry Island, (6) Channel Shelter Island, (7) Fighting Island, (8) Middle Island, (9) Port Colborne, (10) Weseloh Rocks, (11) Hamilton Harbour, (12) Toronto Harbour, (13) Snake Island, (14) Strachan Island. Image: Journal of Great Lakes Research
Editor’s note: This is the second part of a 5-part series by Kalah Harris, Audrey Porter, Yue Jiang and Claire Moore that focuses on trans-border U.S. and Canadian environmental research projects.
By Kalah Harris
Herring gulls are aquatic birds that feed at the water’s surface and so are restricted to feeding on prey fish at the surface and shallow nearshore waters.
By Lillian Young
Microplastic particles, typically studied as aquatic pollutants, are also common in coastal dunes on Great Lakes’ shorelines, according to a new study in the Journal of Great Lakes Research.
The situation is worse than researchers originally expected. Based on findings from the eastern shore of Lake Ontario and Lake Erie, microplastic pollution is frequently transported from shore to coastal land.
What does that mean for the coastal ecosystems?
Nothing good, the study suggested, highlighting that microplastics can obstruct animals’ digestive tracts and absorb, then trap, toxic chemicals.
The transfer of microplastics from lake to shore occurs because they’re generally less dense than water, the study said. This trait allows winds to move them easily to the shore.