Great Lakes trivia thread

[jimmyj]

Did you know....
-Samuel de Champlain was the 1st European to see them
-The watershed covers 540,000 square km (208,000 sq miles)
-The drainage basin is 91% forested
-Their shoreline is over 17,000 km (10,500 miles)
-The surface area is 244,000 sq km
-They hold 20% of the worlds fresh water
Tomorrow I will post more about the impact of humans on the lakes

 

[2LaneCruzer]

They're filled with monsters!

Bessie (lake monster) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[uglyboywith11fingers]

I have a lot of great childhood memories of Lake Erie, around Kingsville, on the north shore across from Sandusky.
That was in the late 50's, when the water was still pretty clean. I recall visiting the area in the 70's...the water was very poluted... very few beach areas clear enough for swimming. I hear it's cleared up a fair bit now.
Never did encounter Bessie...

Pete

 

[MossRoad]

I don't think Champlain was the first European to see all of the great lakes, just the eastern part.

Jean Nicolet is widely claimed to be the first European to see Lake Michigan.

Sea lamprey's entered the great lakes via the man made locks and decimated the large predator species such as lake trout.
Alewives, a small fish, also entered the great lakes the same way. Their population exploded when the lake trout died off.
So, the government brought in pacific salmon to eat the alewives.
Then the salmon at them and the perch, too.
So now there's a huge imbalance of native species VS non-native species, directly caused by the opening of the St. Lawrence Seaway.
At least 25 non-native species now inhabit the great lakes.

 

[MossRoad]

Lake Baikal is the world's largest freshwater lake by volume, approximately 20% of earth's surface fresh water, more than all 5 great lakes combined.

While Lake Superior is big, technically, Lake Michigan and Lake Huron is one lake because they share the same surface elevation and the strait that connects them is not a river and has no regular current flow direction. Therefore, Lake Michigan/Huron is the world's largest fresh water lake by surface area.

The largest lake in the world is the Caspian Sea, but it is salt water.

 

[mjarrels]

Lake TAAL is a nice lake. Just a long way to travel for a boat ride.

mark

 

[turnkey4099]

<snip>

The largest lake in the world is the Caspian Sea, but it is salt water.

Well, it was but I doubt it now. Due to diverting almost all the rivers that used to run into it for irrigation the actual "water surface" is way down from what it was.

Harry K

 

[MossRoad]

Well, it was but I doubt it now. Due to diverting almost all the rivers that used to run into it for irrigation the actual "water surface" is way down from what it was.

Harry K

I guess you could say its a nice lake, but not a great lake.... :laughing:

 

[Brad_Blazer]

Guess which lake?
http://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/557052_4318222996681_1988013988_n.jpg
http://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/531255_4318223476693_672794643_n.jpg
http://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/165988_4318225916754_535465611_n.jpg
http://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash4/205391_4318230476868_1928905424_n.jpg

 

[MossRoad]

Nice facial hair! :laughing:

 

[Heywood Jannockitov]

Well, it was but I doubt it now. Due to diverting almost all the rivers that used to run into it for irrigation the actual "water surface" is way down from what it was.

Harry K

I think you might be confusing the Caspian Sea with the Aral Sea.

 

[Heywood Jannockitov]

Anyone care to guess what Lake Bernard's claim to fame is?
Near Parry Sound Ontario, it is the largest freshwater lake in the world - without this!

 

[jimmyj]

I don't think Champlain was the first European to see all of the great lakes, just the eastern part.

Jean Nicolet is widely claimed to be the first European to see Lake Michigan.

Sea lamprey's entered the great lakes via the man made locks and decimated the large predator species such as lake trout.
Alewives, a small fish, also entered the great lakes the same way. Their population exploded when the lake trout died off.
So, the government brought in pacific salmon to eat the alewives.
Then the salmon at them and the perch, too.
So now there's a huge imbalance of native species VS non-native species, directly caused by the opening of the St. Lawrence Seaway.
At least 25 non-native species now inhabit the great lakes.

I will have to check out the 1st european bit, thanks Moss.

Re lampreys, the first sea lamprey seen in Lake Ontario was in 1835. The lamprey is not an eel, but the American eel population has declined radically in the lakes while the lamprey has thrived.

One Sturgeon in Lake Michigan was found to have 18 lampreys attached to it.

The lamprey population was stable in Lake Ontario until the Welland canal was deepened in 1921.

Lake trout commercial catches were wiped out by the lamprey as follows:
Lake Huron Lake Trout catch 1937 1.5 million kilograms. 1947 was zero.
Lake Superior catch was 2 million kilograms in the late 1940s. In 1961, when Lampreys arrived, the catch was 167 kilograms.

Lamprey populations increased between 20x and 50x per year through the 40s and 50s.
A chemical called TFM was added to lake water in 1962 and by 1966 the lamprey population had been reduced by 95%.
Their numbers have climbed again to almost "high" levels.

 

[jimmyj]

Guess which lake?
http://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/557052_4318222996681_1988013988_n.jpg
http://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/531255_4318223476693_672794643_n.jpg
http://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/165988_4318225916754_535465611_n.jpg
http://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash4/205391_4318230476868_1928905424_n.jpg

Guess....Lake Michigan?

 

[jimmyj]

Anyone care to guess what Lake Bernard's claim to fame is?
Near Parry Sound Ontario, it is the largest freshwater lake in the world - without this!

Biggest freshwater lake without any island. *I have a pal with a cottage on that lake.

 

[jimmyj]

At least 25 non-native species now inhabit the great lakes.

Hey Moss, the book I have says there are 185 nonindigenous species now. That includes things like plants and even the septicemia virus. ( I know I'm a nerd but I love this crap).

 

[creekbend]

On a lighter note. This is how I was taught to remember the names of the Great Lakes-I think around the fourth grade level. "HOMES" H-Huron, O-Ontario, M-Michigan, E-Erie, S-Superior. Just a thought?

 

[jimmyj]

On a lighter note. This is how I was taught to remember the names of the Great Lakes-I think around the fourth grade level. "HOMES" H-Huron, O-Ontario, M-Michigan, E-Erie, S-Superior. Just a thought?

Yupper, HOMES was how we learned too.

 

[ronjhall]

Guess which lake?
http://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/557052_4318222996681_1988013988_n.jpg
http://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/531255_4318223476693_672794643_n.jpg
http://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/165988_4318225916754_535465611_n.jpg
http://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash4/205391_4318230476868_1928905424_n.jpg

Lake Erie.

 

[JerryK]

Yupper, HOMES was how we learned too.

Thanks to my parents taking us camping/tenting each summer, I learned their names by fourth grade by swimming in most of them .... I also learned what 'turning blue' means one hot sweaty summer day, following my older brother, diving into Lake Superior off a huge rock....