Article in current DiveTraining

[texdiveguy]

"INVASIVE ZEBRA
MUSSELS NOW
REACH INTO TEXAS
Zebra mussels, the invasive water critter feared for clogging intake valves, cutting unprotected feet and devouring nutrients fish need to survive, has been confirmed for the first time in Texas.
Tests recently revealed that the freshwater species Dreissena polymorpha, native to Eastern Europe, is now in Lake Texoma, a 93,000-acre (37,200-hectare) lake straddling the Texas-Oklahoma border.
Divers often use Lake Texoma although there is not a designated diving area, said Bruce Hysmith, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department inland fisheries biologist for Lake Texoma.
Zebra mussels originated in the Balkans, Poland and the former Soviet Union, and were first introduced in North America in 1988 in Lake St. Clair, a small water body connecting lakes Huron and Erie.
Their ability to survive in a variety of environments has surprised some.
"When they were first discovered in the '80s, we were told they couldn't survive in water above 60 degrees [Fahrenheit], so we didn't worry about them [in Texas]. I guess they were wrong," Hysmith said.
Divers can help slow the spread of zebra mussels from one water body to another by practicing the following steps when leaving any water suspected of having zebra mussels.
• Drain all water from the boat including such things as the engine, bilge, livewells before leaving the lake.
• Inspect the boat and trailer and remove any zebra mussels, vegetation or foreign objects that are found.
• Wash your boat and trailer at a commercial carwash using high pressure and hot soapy water. Hot water, 140 degrees Fahrenheit (60 degrees Celsius), will kill zebra mussel veligers (juveniles), and when the water from the carwash goes through a waste water treatment plant the process should kill any remaining mussels.
• Open all compartments and livewells and allow the boat and trailer to dry for a week before entering another water body.
Divers can also help by reporting sightings of suspected zebra mussels to the Operation Game Thief (OGT) toll-free hotline at (800) 792-4263. OGT is Texas' wildlife crime-stoppers program, a function of Texas Parks and Wildlife Department's Law Enforcement Division.
In Virginia, where zebra mussels were discovered in an abandoned quarry lake in 2002, officials encourage divers to clean all diving equipment in a saltwater bath (1/2 cup per gallon) or with warm tap water (104 F [40 C]). All sediment and gritty organic materials should be removed; they could actually be zebra mussel veligers.
Ensure that all equipment remains completely dry for at least 24 hours before being used again. Pay special attention to those areas and equipment that can hold water.
For more information, visit
www.protectyourwaters.net/hitchhikers/mollusks_zebra_mussel.php or www.dgif.virginia.gov/wildlife/zebramussels.asp. "


Little SOB's!!!!

 

[Timeliner]

The only thing they seem to do that may seem worthy of mentioning is that they filter the water.
They reproduce so fast it is thought that they have increased the Vis. of the Great Lakes from what I hear and read with all the filter feeding they do.
I'm not so sure I completely believe all that but it may be true. Even still the little SOB's need to be snuffed out and we should do what we can to do or at least send them packing without the rights of citizens or even a jury trial.

That said I think they charged the gates and swam the river and generally just
"Musceled" they're way in to play our game.

Not much we can do about it

 

[scubashawn123]

The only thing they seem to do that may seem worthy of mentioning is that they filter the water.
They reproduce so fast it is thought that they have increased the Vis. of the Great Lakes from what I hear and read with all the filter feeding they do.
I'm not so sure I completely believe all that but it may be true. Even still the little SOB's need to be snuffed out and we should do what we can to do or at least send them packing without the rights of citizens or even a jury trial.

That said I think they charged the gates and swam the river and generally just
"Musceled" they're way in to play our game.

Not much we can do about it

When I dove the quarries in the midwest, especially Illinois, they had some incredibly good visibility due to those mussels being everywhere underwater. I am still waiting to hear just how these little critters destroy the ecosystem?

 

[texdiveguy]

Oh they do in fact filter the water that is a fact, but for the ecology of the infested location they reack havoc that is unstoppable by mass means. They are as sharp as a razor and will cut you or your gear like a knife with little trouble. "Great Visibility is So Over Rated." As a diver used to difficult vis, having clear filtered water is not a huge big deal regardless of wreck diving or simply investigaing the bottom or sides of an area lake........these little pest will at one time in the future cause damage that will cost allot of money to clean up only to have it reoccur! It's like the Lion fish found in Fl. waters, both will creat issues that will not be possitive for the general population and particularly us a scuba divers.

 

[texdiveguy]

When I dove the quarries in the midwest, especially Illinois, they had some incredibly good visibility due to those mussels being everywhere underwater. I am still waiting to hear just how these little critters destroy the ecosystem?

Without going into the volumes of available studies you can Google, they eat the avalaible food in the water that is required for the wildlife of that area to survive, they also cover most materials to inches in depth making it impossible for other living systems to find suitable places to live on. Hence killing off native fish and other wildlife of the area. They clog water inlets of cities costing millions to continually clean out to access our potable water. Pure brass is one of the few materials I have knowedge of that the zebra will not attach to in large quanity. The effected areas of The Great Lakes is our best example. Warning have been posted for years but like so many other things of this nature go unheded till the problem starts to take measuable effects.

 

[scubashawn123]

Without going into the volumes of available studies you can Google, they eat the avalaible food in the water that is required for the wildlife of that area to survive, they also cover most materials to inches in depth making it impossible for other living systems to find suitable places to live on. Hince killing off native fish and other wildlife of the area. They cloggy water inlets of cities costing millions to continually clean out to access our potable water. Pure brass is one of the few materials I have knowedge of that the zebra will not attach to in large quanity.

See Alan,

That is why Scubaboard is so valuable for me. You have enlightened me again. Thanks for the response. Good viz is overrated. Where have I heard that........

Ban the evasive mussels, I am on board.

 

[cbrich]

This and the North American Snakehead remind me of the new NCIS episode; where Abby creates a DNA weapon. A weapon that can destroy certain people, animials, or any organisms with a specific DNA code. Someone needs to create this for the Zebra Mussle and North America Snakehead.

I am concerned about coming across a Snakehead than these mussels.

 

[scubashawn123]

This and the North American Snakehead remind me of the new NCIS episode; where Abby creates a DNA weapon. A weapon that can destroy certain people, animials, or any organisms with a specific DNA code. Someone needs to create this for the Zebra Mussle and North America Snakehead.

I am concerned about coming across a Snakehead than these mussels.

So how do we get rid of the mussels. 10 years ago in the Great Lakes they had not had any success the water just keeps getting clearer.


SO

 

[Hemlon]

Thanks for posting the article, Alan!

 

[psiborg1812]

This and the North American Snakehead remind me of the new NCIS episode; where Abby creates a DNA weapon. A weapon that can destroy certain people, animials, or any organisms with a specific DNA code. Someone needs to create this for the Zebra Mussle and North America Snakehead.

I am concerned about coming across a Snakehead than these mussels.

Ugh, Snakeheads are freaky critters! If i came across one of those underwater, i'd be using the "rear dump" on my wetsuit!