More Sub Zebras?

?

From May, 1997 (Update #30)

The recent rehabilitation of the World War II submarine U.S.S. Cobia - including removal of extensive encrustations of zebra mussels (ZMU #29) - drew attention from facilities that feature other historic ships, including two submarines: the U.S.S. Silversides (Muskegon, Mich.) and the U.S.S. Cod (Cleveland, Ohio). Museum directors from those facilities inspected the Cobia when it was in drydock at Sturgeon Bay, Wis., last September. Neither the Silversides nor the Cod has been drydocked since zebra mussels first entered the Great Lakes. Isco Valli, director of the Wisconsin Maritime Museum, home to the Cobia, said the restoration showed that "zebra mussels can hide problems, especially by growing on seams and weld lines. The mussels can actually contribute to the deterioration that tends to occur at these locations." He added, "New marine epoxies that were used during the restoration should last a long time and discourage further mussel attachment. Both other directors said that they wanted to undertake a similar restoration effort on their vessels, especially now that they saw the potential level of fouling by zebra mussels.".

ID: 199705-6.

The Zebra Mussel Update was a 4- to 8-page quarterly national newsletter published by the University of Wisconsin Sea Grant Institute from May 1990 through May 1997. The ZMU documented the spread of the zebra mussel -- an exotic nuisance mussel -- through North America's freshwater environments, especially the Great Lakes, and on efforts to control it.