Book about the Great Lakes available on Kindle.

The Dynamic Great Lakes by Barbara Spring is available on Kindle readers. There are a few copies of the paperback on Amazon.com.

The Great Lakes System and The Dynamic Great Lakes

The Great Lakes System  click the link

the link is to wikipedia.  Below is The Dynamic Great Lakes with what lies beneath the freshwater seas.

Niagara Falls

The waters of Lake Superior, Lake Michigan, Lake Huron and Lake Erie take a plunge over Niagara Falls.  The water falls into Lake Ontario and then finds its way out to the Atlantic Ocean through the St. Lawrence River.

Read more about the Great Lakes system in The Dynamic Great Lakes.

NOAA map of Great Lakes Currents

Great Lakes Currentshttp://www.glerl.noaa.gov/res/glcfs/currents/glcfs-currents-surf.html

click on the link for an up to date interactive map of Great Lakes currents on all five Great Lakes.

Pictured is the shoreline of Lake Michigan at Grand Haven, Michigan

Native Fish in Great Lakes Make a Comeback

Steelhead, perch and lake trout are making a comeback due to the decline of the alewife.  For more information about fishing in the five Great Lakes, here is a link: The latest fishing information

The Great Lakes from Space by NASA

NASA photo of the five Great Lakes: Lake Superior, Lake Michigan, Lake Huron, Lake Erie and Lake Ontario.  There is still ice on Lake Michigan and Lake Superior but soon it will all be gone and people will be out on the lakes enjoying swimming, fishing, kayaking, surfing, wind surfing, kite boarding and just enjoying the freshwater seas.

From this point of view, we can appreciate the Great Lakes.  They are freshwater seas.

Kite Festival on Lake Michigan.

Microbeads in Great Lakes Get Into Food Chains

The Great Lakes are 20% of the fresh surface water on this planet and offer lots of sports.  But there is danger lurking below their waters in the form of tiny plastic beads.  Click the link for more info.

The Dynamic Great Lakes non fiction book and photos

The Dynamic Great Lakes  click the link

A book to throw in your travel bag if you are fishing, diving, swimming, boating or sailing on any of the five Great Lakes: Lake Superior, Lake Michigan, Lake Huron, Lake Erie, Lake Ontario as well as Lake St. Clair and all of the connecting waters.

Video Lake Erie

Lake Erie  click here for the video

Our shallowest and most populated of the five Great Lakes.  Here is a short video showing Lake Erie and its problems.

Read more in The Dynamic Great Lakes  

The Dynamic Great Lakes is available at Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble, Books a Million and many other bookstores.

Live Current Map: NOAA

Great Lakes Currents: NOAA

 The wind changes lake currents rapidly on the Great Lakes.  Click the link to see which way the wind is blowing.

Lake Erie and Walleye Fishing

The first time I saw a walleye I thought it was blind.  They are not but their eyes are made for seeing in dark waters.
Walleye fishing will be starting soon on Lake Erie and other places where the fish make their runs. 

 They are excellent on the dinner table.

Profile of the 5 Great Lakes

Geologically Lake Huron and Lake Michigan are the same lake since they are the same sea level

The Great Lakes are Stressed

• Aquatic habitat alterations: Changes to aquatic habitat from diverse causes, such as shoreline hardening and erosion control structures, port and marina development, and tributary dams
• Climate change: Changes to seasonal, average, and extreme temperature, precipitation, and ice cover
• Coastal development: Land-based human development near lake margins, such as residential and commercial development and industrial activities
• Fisheries management: Changes to Great Lakes ecosystems resulting from fishing pressure, stocking activities, and aquaculture
• Invasive species: Changes to Great Lakes ecosystems from invasive and nuisance species in abundances not previously seen
• Nonpoint source pollution: Nutrients, sediments, and waterborne contaminants transported from watersheds to the Great Lakes by streams and rivers and atmospheric deposition
• Toxic chemical pollution: Chemical pollutants from industrial and agricultural sources

Lake Erie is in Trouble Again

Lake Erie

Lake Erie is in Trouble Again Editorial from the Detroit Free Press 10/18/2011 With Erie's health in jeopardy, years after herculean efforts to clean it up, there's a dire need to take action before it worsens -- and spreads. In August, for example, the view from space showed algae spanning almost the entire western basin of Lake Erie. Well into this month, stringy swirls and vast nearshore swaths remained. The algae can choke out other life. It creates even more problems -- and stink -- as it dies off. And the mass of algae in Lake Erie is increasingly dominated by more toxic varieties that already have been known to poison pets. Research to date suggests the problem arises from a combination of agricultural practices and the weather. But no one can do much about the weather, in this case the increase in major downpours that flush fertilizing phosphorus off fields rather than helping it soak in. Last spring was particularly rainy, almost certainly a factor in this summer's algae growth. Another factor, tentatively identified by University of Michigan research Donald Scavia, is a trend toward fall fertilization on farms, rather than waiting to do it entirely in the spring each year. Among the confounding factors: Back when Lake Erie was in trouble before, researchers knew that keeping soil on the fields would also help keep fertilizer on the fields. Farmers made dramatic improvements in reducing the sediments that got swept away -- only to find now that the phosphorus somehow escapes on its own to nourish the algae. Continued agricultural research can presumably solve the riddle of timing and placement of fertilizer, but it must be done quickly and it must be well-funded. Meanwhile, climate trends are hardly in Lake Erie's favor. The frequency of heavy rains began increasing in the 1990s, Scavia said, and is expected to double by the end of the century. A longer growing season -- one of the potential pluses of climate change, in some people's view -- also gives algae more time to grow each year. At least one new type of algae has been found, and the mix of algae types runs heavily toward those that have toxic qualities. The lake's dead zones also are growing. They occur when decaying material, such as from algae, takes up so much oxygen that none remains in the water for fish and other biological entities that need it. And Toledo, whose water intake is perilously close to where major algae blooms can form, now spends an additional $3,000 to $4,000 a day on filtration to keep its drinking water safe, according to a University of Toledo researcher. Scavia's research suggests that the arrival of zebra and quagga mussels in Lake Erie has not been a determining factor, although it's hard to believe they don't contribute at least a bit to the problem. As for fertilizer types, agricultural studies to date suggest the problems are just as severe in tributary basins where farmers don't use liquid manure as in those where they do. And since farmers would rather grow crops on their fields than algae in Lake Erie, they are very likely to follow whatever guidance they can get on fertilizing -- but someone has to figure it out first. And the explosion of algae, in all its complexity, is only one of the problems facing the lakes. Issues old and newSeveral groups joined together last week in Detroit for Great Lakes Week, making all of the serious issues highly visible. This unprecedented event offered the best opportunity yet for everyone involved with the lakes to mingle, to work toward maximum coordination of research, restoration and activism, and to speak with one voice in Washington and Ottawa, and in state and provincial capitals. The problems are both new and old -- algae in Lake Erie being the best example of an old horror story spinning off an even more frightening sequel. The other threats are equally large, and often as complex: • Invasive species: A newer problem, the ongoing threat of invasive species continues to top most people's lists. There's no doubt they have upset, and perhaps decimated, the balance of food for fish in the lakes, in addition to other problems they cause. • Overflows and runoff: After strong progress on upgrades to sewage treatment plants decades ago, storm-induced overflows increasingly put more waste into the water again. Combined with the effects of surface runoff, that impact shows most obviously on beaches that must be closed to swimmers after major rainstorms. • Contaminants: The lakes face other, less visible threats, too. The ban on dioxins and PCBs led to a decline of their presence in the lakes, but they still show up in fish tissue. And so do many of the chemicals that replaced them. Pharmaceuticals and compounds used in personal care and cleaning products are detectable in the water, too. Dangerous substances such as mercury continue to drop into the big lakes and inland waterways, washed in by rain after they've risen from the smokestacks of sources such as coal-fired power plants. Glimmers of hopeThe most encouraging news involves parts of the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative and other projects that have begun to take hold. The Great Lakes Legacy Act, the result of a long campaign by former U.S. Rep. Vern Ehlers, R-Grand Rapids, has gathered enough steam that some of the region's biggest toxic hotspots are being dredged out and restored. Within a year, three of these spots will be ready for delisting from their Areas of Concern designation. Over the next two-year cycle, assuming consistent funding, five areas are to be cleaned and delisted. Restoration activities appear to have exploded this summer. Wetlands have been restored, land-based invasive species have been cleared out, partners have worked together along shorelines and riverbanks all across the basin to improve water quality and wildlife habitat in areas that feed the lakes. Several of these projects got targeted to accompany work at Areas of Concern, so the newly cleaned spots will also be newly welcoming to wildlife -- and people. And, as beautiful as the lakes are, people remain the bottom line. Beauty has little value if the water doesn't meet the three priorities for human use: drinkable, swimmable, fishable. Lake Erie is coming perilously close to being none of those things. As a harbinger, it is a call to action.