OT: Great Lakes Ice Cover and Isle Royale Wolves
In my random ventures over to RCMB, occassionally I meander into an interesting OT post. Before getting completely derailed by Global Warming arguments and political stuff, they had some interesting discussions on the great lakes freezing over that I found pretty interesting. Here's a link to a random article talking about the current ice cover:
In my spare time, I randomly take some interest in the Great Lakes water levels, which the GLWLD has a pretty cool dashboard for, but they also have some interesting stuff regarding ice cover as we approach 89% of the entire Greak Lakes being covered with ice.
Of big interest to me from this ice coverage, is the potential for introducing, reintroducing, or bringing new blood to aging populations of some animal species that can cross the ice bridges from Canada to places like Isle Royale. These potential species include wolves, moose, elk, and perhaps most relevant, wolverines. Here's a link discussing the wolves of Isle Royale and the need for new blood I found interesting.
February 22nd, 2014 at 4:15 PM ^
Hence is why wolves are keystone species. They fit into this grouping along with lions, tigers, mountain lions, jaguars, etc.
February 18th, 2014 at 11:33 AM ^
We saw a ton of Moose, some as close as 10 feet away. We never heard any wolves, and when I was there (15 years ago) they were saying the wolf population was down. Hopefully this is a silver lining in an otherwise craptastic winter for humans.
February 18th, 2014 at 1:30 PM ^
I've been to Isle Royale as well. What an amazing place! My only concern with increasing the wolf population on Isle Royale is the affect it would have on the moose. I also came within about 8-10 feet within a moose, face-to-face. Incredible.
February 18th, 2014 at 11:42 AM ^
will decrease the numbers of the emerald ash borer and other insect pests.
February 18th, 2014 at 11:50 AM ^
February 18th, 2014 at 11:58 AM ^
More ice = less evaporation. Combine this with the large snow mass around the Lakes, and water levels should make a big recovery this spring. We own a piece of property on Lake Michigan that we bought in 2003. And since then, in most years, the water level has dropped. Last year I paced off from the historical high water mark and the water level was close to 130 feet away from it. I'm not sure in water depth what that translates to. But, I wouldn't be surprised to see half of the 130' of shoreline covered in water later this year.
February 18th, 2014 at 12:22 PM ^
Last year I paced off from the historical high water mark and the water level was close to 130 feet away from it. I'm not sure in water depth what that translates to.
According to the NOAA observations, Lake Michigan's about three and a half feet below its historical high. The lakes are mostly about halfway between historical mean and historical low, but Superior is sitting right at its historical mean, which is a good sign for the other lakes. It means that over the long term, Superior's drainage, for a while, will help keep the others from sinking way down near those historical lows.
February 18th, 2014 at 12:00 PM ^
Hey all,
I am a new member to Mgoblog, but I have been viewing this site for over a year now to catch up on all the new issues occurring with the University of Michigan sports. In a nut shell, I graduated from Oakland University, but attended the University of Michigan for a few semesters while obtaining my degree from Oakland.
I decided to create an account to specifically comment on this topic because it heavily relates to my field. I have a degree in Wildlife Biology and volunteer with Dr. Rolf Peterson (coordinator of the Wolf and Moose Watch on Isle Royale). I have volunteered with Dr. Peterson for the past two expeditions, and will do so again on Expedition IV this summer. I have seen moose and wolves on the island, and they tend to stray away from any possible human problematics.
Dr. Peterson and I frequently email one another back and forth so I can get updates on the current wolf and moose populations. He is nearing the end of this year's winter research and I am curious to see how both populations are faring. From our past conversations, disease (mainly from deer ticks) is affecting the moose population, and with a dwindled moose population, it is not baring well for the wolf population, which is down to 7-8 total in population. When I was collecting wolf scat for last year's expedition, I found lots of berries in the scat, which indicated that berries were the main food source of their diets. Wolves have enzymes in their stomachs and not microorganisms, so they cannot break down the strong cell walls in fruits to garner the needed nutrients. Their consumption of berries is due to lack of feeding on moose carcasses.
Inbreeding is the major cause for concern for the wolf population on the island. The last known wolf to have crossed Lake Superior to the island from Canada with a diverse genetic pool occurred in 1998, and he was the first to do so in over 30 years prior to that.
SpaceCoyote, thank you for posting this. Go Blue!
February 18th, 2014 at 12:05 PM ^
I'd bet money you're the first to basically admit to collecting poop in your first post!
February 18th, 2014 at 12:15 PM ^
his own in a cooler.
February 18th, 2014 at 12:07 PM ^
The Weather Channel's site had a piece on ice cover on Friday (HERE) and shared this graphic detailing maximum ice coverage for the Great Lakes over 40 years -
We really got a break there for four years with some milder winters, particularly 2011-12, which was more or less an extended fall.
February 18th, 2014 at 12:15 PM ^
I picked up a lot of my wolf knowledge from documentaries and specifically from a book "Of Wolf and Men". The book, while clearly making reference to one of my favorite books of all time, is quite informative, though a bit heavy on cultural perceptions of wolves within Europe and America (and trying to dispell them), which is important, but not really what I was seeking.
Obviously, the internet is a great place to start. But I will warn you, you may think "hey, I'm interested in learning a little more about the great lakes, this is interesting", and then literally spend 6 hours in a day learning about various fresh water lakes around the world, which has the most depth, which has the most volume, the distinction between ocean, lakes (some are considered both but have more specific distinctions), and the history of the great lakes dating back to the ice ages. Did you know that there is a 100 ft waterfall beneath Lake Huron in the straights of Mackinac? Did you know that is almost completely useless trivia for most of you in your lives? Yet wikipedia allows you to utilize your time learning about such things that you have no real reason to learn about other than it's there and readily available.
So I warn you: yes, it's interesting, but it's also time consuming and generally unproductive.
February 18th, 2014 at 12:45 PM ^
Ancient Waterfalls in the Great Lakes courtesy of National Geographic /not sure if embedded properly/
February 19th, 2014 at 10:54 AM ^
Here's what I find fascinating: How geologically brand-new the current shape of the Great Lakes is. Not even talking about a waterfall that disappeared 8,000 years ago or so - I mean things like, until glacial rebound blocked the flow, the Ottawa River was the primary drainer of the lakes as recently as 4,000 years ago. We think of geological formations as pretty damn permanent, and human history to have taken place entirely within the world we see today, and yet the Great Pyramid had been standing for five centuries by the time the Ottawa River was blocked. All sorts of landforms like the Keweenaw Peninsula, Bruce Peninsula, Manitoulin Island, etc, had been exposed by the ice, submerged, and later reappeared, but were underwater when the pyramids were being built.
February 18th, 2014 at 12:16 PM ^
Thank you! I would take that bet, too.
I would find it hard to believe that introducing a stabilized elk herd population to the island is beneficial to the declining moose population. Yes, it would give the wolf population another food source, but elk forage more often than moose do, and their diets are not as diverse as moose, so they may wipe out, or severly decline a major food source for the moose. By bringing in a possible invasive species, there may be limited food resources for a native species like moose. I am a lover of observing elk in the wild, but not to a limited island like Isle Royale.
February 18th, 2014 at 12:22 PM ^
This reminds me of the fell winter of 2911 when the white wolves crossed the frozen Brandywine into the Shire.
February 18th, 2014 at 2:56 PM ^
February 18th, 2014 at 6:04 PM ^
It really means more extreme winters, either extremely cold like this year in the midwest, or unseasonably warm, like this year in Alaska. The idea is that the jet stream wanders more and slows down (meaning it stays in place longer) due to the warming of the poles. The poles warm, meaning there is less of a temperature gradient between the warm and cold pockets of air, causing the jet stream to slow due to smaller temperature gradient and search for a comfort zone where the temperature gradient is in better balance (further south, where the air is hotter). But it's still just a volume or pocket of air. If the cold volume of air wanders further south in one area, it has to climb further north in other areas.
There are lots of different theories out there as far as global warming, some that claim warming of the poles will cause thermohaline circulation to decrease and therefore potentially lead to another mini-ice age. Others claim that's non-sense and that the melted poles will overcome that and make the whole planet hotter. All are theories looking for facts to support them. Whether you believe in certain aspects of global warming or not is based on available evidence we have today, but it's an interesting topic that would be interesting to discuss if not for the extreme political nature people want to give it.
February 18th, 2014 at 5:19 PM ^
This may be my favorite OT post ever. I'm nerdy like that. Thanks, SC.
Cool wolf story, bro: I was driving back home to Wisconsin from the U.P. in February. 2 large wolves passed about 100 yards in front of me near Crystal Falls, MI. I slowed down. 2 more large wolves were just emerging from the trees. I stopped. We shared an uncomfortable stare for more than a moment. I raised my fist in the air (a la Fantastic Mr. Fox), and drove off. Pure Michigan.