CAYUGA LAKE FLOATING CLASSROOM WEBLOG

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

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Friday, May 4, 2012

First Cruise of 2012 - Diatoms Galore!

April showers held off to the last minute, but finally lake levels are rising and we're on the water!  Students from Dr. Kelly Wessell's Ecology class at TC3 boarded the Floating Classroom for our first cruise of the year - beautiful day on the water with temps in the mid-60s. 

With so little runoff so far this year, water clarity is high- 7m Secchi Disk readings in deep water- and spring is progressing slowly in Cayuga.  Nevertheless, there is alot going on!  DIATOMS are the story of the day.  In all of our samples, populations of tiny asterionella and fragillaria are booming right now.   The BioFresh blog offers an excellent introduction to these incredible living fossils, and features this cool animation and haiku!