Understanding and Surveying a lake?

[JahJahwarrior]

There is a lake on campus which piques my attention. I am located in Central Florida at the University of...eh, Central Florida... I would like to learn more about lakes in this region, what plants grow in them, and what that means about the water quality. Furthermore, I want to know how to tell what the underwater topology is likely to be like, if that's possible, and where to look for deep points. There is no marine biology program here, or else that info would probably be available. I have it through the grapevine that most of the lake is 7-12 feet deep, but that there's one deep spot of 25 feet. I want to find this spot.

I haven't been out with a mask, but I've kayaked all over. I don't know how big the lake is, but it's about a 5-7 minute kayak across for me, and it's kind of lima bean shaped. Viz without a mask seems to be several feet, maybe 5. Bottom is dark, making it hard to tell how far you can see.

There is one known gator, and I've only seen it once. It's about 4 feet long, less than 5 for sure.

I have a primary reel with 400 feet of line on it. That won't get me very far, but can/should I use that to help me look for this deep spot?

The lake is called Lake Claire, but I cannot find any information about it on the internet.

Lastly, the guy who told me about the depth also told me he heard the lake is spring fed, because the water level doesn't really change much. It looks to be true, water levels are within a foot of where they were whenever the docks were built and I think one of them was built pretty long ago. It's not fed by any drainage pipes.

Can anyone tell me anything about this lake from the info given, or point me to sources which can explain in clear english what the bottom of these lakes look like, how to survey them without spending any money on anything but gas, and how to avoid getting eaten by the lone gator? Thanks!

 

[DavidPT40]

Should be pretty easy. Just mark your rope in increments of one or two feet, tie a brick to it, and make some measurements of the waters depth from your kayak.

I don't want to alarm you, but I do want you to recall that stirring up the muck in shallow lakes in Florida is what killed a boy last year (actually several people I think). There is some kind of deadly bacteria that lives in the sediment and is more active than usual in warm weather.

 

[Tigerman]

There is ways to somewhat predict the topography of a lake, however Im not any good at it. A dead giveaway however is the topography around said lake..
If theres a 90% mountain wall going down to the surface, its quite likely to continue further down

 

[JahJahwarrior]

Should be pretty easy. Just mark your rope in increments of one or two feet, tie a brick to it, and make some measurements of the waters depth from your kayak.

I don't want to alarm you, but I do want you to recall that stirring up the muck in shallow lakes in Florida is what killed a boy last year (actually several people I think). There is some kind of deadly bacteria that lives in the sediment and is more active than usual in warm weather.

Good thought on getting an idea of depth from the kayak.....hadn't thought of that....

As far as the bacteria goes, my understanding is that it is often killed off by colder water, and the water is still chilly. Furthermore, you can ingest it and be fine, it's only dangerous when it is forcefully injected up the nasal passages. I'll be wearing a standard dive mask which covers the nose, and regardless, as long as I'm not cannonballing in, I shouldn't get it forced up my nose just by swimming.

I read up on that when the death occurred....scary stuff!!

 

[Mr.X]

Good thought on getting an idea of depth from the kayak.....hadn't thought of that....

As far as the bacteria goes, my understanding is that it is often killed off by colder water, and the water is still chilly. Furthermore, you can ingest it and be fine, it's only dangerous when it is forcefully injected up the nasal passages. I'll be wearing a standard dive mask which covers the nose, and regardless, as long as I'm not cannonballing in, I shouldn't get it forced up my nose just by swimming.

I read up on that when the death occurred....scary stuff!!

If there is a possibility of dangerous microbes in the water...why risk it? You're a young guy. Why not just drag a small underwater video camera behind you? You'd cover a lot more ground that way, and you'd get a chance to review (dry) what's there and whether or not its worth it.

X

 

[ucfdiver]

See, I'm not sure how we're gonna cover this much ground. I say we split up into teams of two and cover a section.

For what it's worth, don't people swim in lake claire all the time?

 

[perdidochas]

One idea is to try to get to the lake at dawn or when there is little or no wind. Then, you might be able to see the water boiling up from the spring. Have you talked to the people at the biology/geology/environmental sciences department at UCF? They may have already done studies on the lake. Also, have you looked at all the satellite photos available on the Web (places like google earth, etc.) A friend of mine hunts for wrecks using those images. He's found two that he has found no evidence of.

 

[wardric]

Good thought on getting an idea of depth from the kayak.....hadn't thought of that....

As far as the bacteria goes, my understanding is that it is often killed off by colder water, and the water is still chilly. Furthermore, you can ingest it and be fine, it's only dangerous when it is forcefully injected up the nasal passages. I'll be wearing a standard dive mask which covers the nose, and regardless, as long as I'm not cannonballing in, I shouldn't get it forced up my nose just by swimming.

I read up on that when the death occurred....scary stuff!!

cyanotoxins produced by cyanobacterias can be very harmfull by skin contact. Recreational scuba gear will not protect you.

 

[AXL72]

for depth, tow a fish (sidescan sonar) or use an echosounder.

The brick and string method is so "age of sail"-ish