CAYUGA LAKE FLOATING CLASSROOM WEBLOG

Trip Reports & On-Line Citizen Science

- field trips & charters
- public eco-cruises & charters
- internships & youth programming


Phone: (607) 327-5253
Email: floatingclassroom@gmail.com

SEE OUR MAIN WEBSITE: WWW.DiscoverCayugaLake.org

Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Cayuga Explorers Summer Program!

We are now accepting registrations for our CAYUGA EXPLORERS summer youth program, scheduled for Tuesday, August 25-Friday, August 28! To learn more, click here.

Sunday, July 12, 2009

Catch Cornell's Mini-Sub in Action!

Today, we hosted Cornell's Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) Team on the lake, during our afternoon eco-cruise. Water was a littlcluody due to windy conditions, but we have our first video footage - click here for video and images!

The deployment of the 2009 competition vihicle "Nova" was a success, despite some pretty rippin' north winds peaking at 20mph. Thanks to Capt. Rod for a steady hand! With water temperatures approaching 70 degrees F. down to 15 feet or so, summer vegetation is booming on the lake at this point. We took a variety of plant samples, and it was interesting to note that, while the aquatic macrophyte (rooted plant) community near the east shore and Stewart Park was dominated by species such as Eurasion Water Milfoil and slender pondweed. On the other hand, once we settled over slight deeper waters (~15 ft.) on the west shore of the lake, we recover dense growth dominated by declining curly-leafed pondweed and elodea. Can't wait to see the video!

Friday, July 10, 2009

Spiny Water Fleas!



Today, students from the Hillside Center helped us conduct a lake profile just north of Taughannock State Park. They did a great job, and we observed a swarm of millions of spiny water fleas for the first time this year! These tiny, invasive, creatures can really clog up fishing gear... they also are feared to be at the heart of very serious ecological changes taking place in the Great Lakes Basin. We need to learn more about their impact on Cayuga.
We also observe quite a few paramecium in 5-10 meters of water off the west shore. Here's what they looked like...http://www.flickr.com/photos/fpelectronica/3588662939/

Can Invasive Mussels Change Cayuga?


We saw a fair number of mussel larvae (called "veligers") in our plankton samples during June, and we have been looking at zebra and quagga mussel colonies around the lake this month. Click on the photo to check out a cool video to learn a little about how invasive mussels might result in increased algae growth and deposition along shorelines!

Monday, July 6, 2009

Art on Cayuga!

Many thanks to everyone who filled the M/V Haendel to the gunnels for our first-ever art cruise on Cayuga Lake! With the help of artist Camille Doucet, we have taken a much closer, more careful look at the plants and animals that call Cayuga home. Check back for pictures and perhaps a few illustrations of Potemageton crispus (curly pondweed), Eurasion water milfoil and more in a few days!