New Sightings Elsewhere

From October 26, 1990 (update #5)

CHICAGO - A single zebra mussel was found Sept. 27 on a rock 20 feet down in Lake Michigan by two divers from Loyola University of Chicago. It marked the first time a zebra mussel has been found attached to natural substrate in the lake. All previous observations have occurred on artificial structures and on ships, except for a single adult found on a piece of driftwood in Kenosha harbor. Loyola biology professor John Janssen and graduate student Audrey Whang found the mussel attached to a rock while surveying the area for mottled sculpins, a benthic fish. Janssen said that he generally makes 20-30 dives in the area during the summer, and this is the first zebra mussel that he has found.

GRAND HAVEN, Mich. - A single adult zebra mussel was found on Aug. 21 attached to the bar screen at the cooling water inlet for the Unit #1 condenser of the J.H. Campbell power plant. According to Ron Fobes, senior environmental advisor for Consumers Power Company, a diver found the 0.5- to 0.75-inch-long mussel during an inspection of the facility for zebra mussels.

CHESTERTON, Ind. - Divers found newly settled zebra mussels at densities of 50-100 animals per square foot along the intake crib wall at the Bailly Generating Station, according to Northern Indiana Public Service Company (NIPSCO) environmental analyst Dave Herrin. Larger, mature mussels have been found at the same location in densities of one or two per square foot. Divers also have found small colonies of zebra mussels at NIPSCO's Gary, Ind., generating plant, which means two of NIPSCO's three Lake Michigan power plants are infested with mussels.

CLEVELAND - Zebra mussels have been found at all eight Centerior Energy generating plants along Lake Erie, according to Centerior environmental analyst Tom Mueller. All of the Centerior plants are being treated for zebra mussels, Mueller said, but the extent of mussel-related problems depends on the facility. He said the service water system at the Avon Lake plant near Cleveland has become infested with mussels, plugging the oil cooler system. The circulating water system at the Bayshore facility near Toledo became infested, blocking condenser tubes and requiring a temporary reduction in generating capacity. "It's not doomsday," Mueller said. "We're learning to live with them."

OLCOTT, N.Y. - Large veliger densities (16,588 per cubic yard) were found in early August in water from the Lake Ontario water intake for the New York State Electric & Gas (NYSEG) Somerset generating station 30 miles east of the mouth of the Niagara River, according to NYSEG senior environmental specialist Ray Tuttle. Veliger densities peaked in August in the 30-foot deep, half-mile-long intake; settled post-veligers appeared in mid-August. Veligers have now been found along the entire south shore of Lake Ontario, Tuttle reported. Veligers were first found at the southeast end of the lake during the first week of September at the New York State Power Authority's Fitzpatrick plant near Oswego. Despite finding lots of veligers and settled post-veligers, no zebra mussel-related problems were found at the NYSEG Somerset plant during a scheduled maintenance shutdown the first weekend of October, Tuttle said, which suggests that 1990 was the first year of infestation at this location. Tuttle also reported that a study of mussel infestation of the New York State barge canal system (Erie Canal) - conducted by Acres International, a consulting firm, with funding from the Empire State Electric Energy Research Consortium (ESEERCO) - has regularly found veligers as far east as Rochester in the canal system, which extends from Albany to Buffalo. He noted that water levels in the Erie Canal are lowered 10 feet each fall to reduce ice damage, then the stretch of the canal from Buffalo to Rochester is flooded each spring with Lake Erie water. It's hard to imagine a better way to infect the area with zebra mussels...

ID: 19901026-3.

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.