Wisconsin Sightings

From July 26, 1991 (update #9)

MILWAUKEE -- Seven zebra mussels were found July 3 attached to a fishing rod found in 11 feet (3.3 m) of water at the McKinley Marina. Boat owner Stanley Barton retrieved the rod and mussels while trying to snag a lost umbrella. The mussels, the first mussels found in Milwaukee, ranged in size from 0.3 to 0.7 inches (0.8-1.7 cm). Barton credited Sea Grant's zebra mussel identification card for providing essential information to correctly identify the mussels and used the enclosed phone number to report his find.

MILWAUKEE -- A zebra mussel less than 1/20th of an inch (12 mm) long was found July 19 attached to the bottom of a boat docked in the Milwaukee River near the Water Street Bridge by diver Jerry Guyer, who was looking for zebra mussels in the river. Ironically, Guyer found the mussel attached to his own boat upon completing his search of the river. Guyer noted that he has never taken his boat further than Port Washington to the north and Racine to the south, so it has never left these Wisconsin waters of Lake Michigan since he repainted its hull in April 1990.

ID: 19910726-3.

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.