Zebra Mussel Report

They came in 1988. An invasion that is unparalleled in proportion by any other. On arrival they numbered in the millions, and now number in the billions, colonizing and engaging in an ecological take-over of our liquid environment.
No I am not writing of alien invaders from the watery subsurface of Jupiter's icy moon Europa, but of the exotic species Dreissena polymorpha (ZEBRA MUSSELS) brought to us courtesy of the Caspian sea and international trade. It is believed that a transoceanic ship discharged its mussel laden ballast into Lake St. Clair where It is likely that the pesky bivalve awaited its attack in it's larval stage of life (veligers). Once here they adapted quickly to the plankton rich waters, attaching themselves to hard substrates with their strong byssal threads. Today the Zebra mussel has spread throughout the Great lakes and surrounding land-locked waterways as far as rivers and lakes in Arkansas, Tennessee and just recently California. Since their arrival the Zebra mussel along with the quaga mussel (close relative of the zebra mussel) have reeked havoc on both the ecology and infrastructure of our Great Lakes system. They have done some good you say. Well, maybe a little for the SCUBA industry.

Divers and Mussels
POSITIVE
What does the Zebra Mussel mean for us privileged few who enjoy exploring our underwater environment?
You might believe that It means catastrophe, and in many ways you would be right, but for the Great Lakes diver it has most commonly meant AMAZING VISIBILITY. The changes are spectacular, where just a few years ago divers were lucky to get 10-20 feet of vis in the Great Lakes, now you can expect as much as 70 feet or more. The benefit of this is that you can now see what your diving on or in. In some situations you can see from bow to stern on a wreck, and it's now possible to see large curious fish such as carp checking you out from a distance. As well you will now see colorful sponges which branch out like beautiful corals in a marine environment (every year they seem to get larger and larger). The mussels themselves are interesting (kind of) to watch with there constant siphoning of the nutrient rich water. These are only a few interesting somewhat beneficial (to the diver) elements of the zebra mussel invasion I have noticed over the last couple of years, and to the diver these benefits are quite evident on every dive.

NEGATIVE Since the mussels are filter feeders they take in the nutrients and food (phytoplankton) they need to grow and reproduce along with suspended solids, toxic chemicals and heavy metals such as PCB's, Mercury, chromium, cadmium, Selenium etc. The removal of phytoplankton (partly responsible for the great vis) is reducing the food supply (zooplankton) small and juvenile fish need to survive, causing their numbers to dwindle :(where are all the fish):. Although this is a well known problem, their filtering of pollutants is just as detrimental. These pollutants accumulate into the mussels fatty tissues making them potentially toxic to divers who might cut themselves on the sharp calcium shell. An important thing to keep in mind when diving in a current to strong to fin in is to wear some form of hand protection (standard neoprene gloves in colder water or a thin canvas or leather glove (such as gardening gloves) when the water is warm). This practice will protect your hands from numerous potentially infectious cuts while your pulling yourself through a current. This accumulation and filtering of toxins not only affects divers directly, but indirectly as well (changing our lakes ecology). Pollution in the Planktonic life zone (free floating zone e.g. plankton) and Nektonic life zone (free swimming zone e.g. Fish) is being transferred (NOT removed as many people think) to the benthic life zone (lake/river bottom). This transfer occurs in a couple of ways. The first way is through the mussels filtering the water and rejecting most of the pollutants and other materials they don't want. This material combines with mucus and produces pseudofeces (waste product) which is then expelled from the mussel to the lake/river bottom, where it exposes the benthic organisms to its toxic nature. The second way occurs when the mussels die and the pollution in there degrading tissues moves on to this new life zone. Both examples are dangerously changing the ecology where important benthic organisms such as crawfish and worms live by increasing there exposure to pollution. In turn, organisms that feed on these bottom dwelling creatures are also subjected to higher concentrations of pollutants. In short, all organisms in our lakes/rivers are affected from this transfer of pollutants, making it easier for hazardous materials to make there way through the food chain (bioaccumulation), potentially affecting the health and number of fish we see during our dives.
It's always an amazing experience doing a dive on a 19th century schooner. That is, if you can see the wreck. The zebra mussel seems to have made this both a pleasurable experience, providing great vis, as well as an eye-opening experience to the infestation problem. For example some wrecks such as the Vickory in the St. Lawrence are completely blanketed with a foot or more of the mussel, diminishing the original appearance of the age-old wreck.
Many organisms are being displaced by the mussel. For example the native clams of the Lakes are being killed off due to zebra mussels jamming their shell open allowing predators easy access to there tasty innards. This is an effect that diminishes the natural beauty and ecology of the lake or river bottom. An interesting observation myself along with many other divers have witnessed over the last couple of seasons is that those sponges mentioned earlier seem to be overtaking the mussels. Their growing overtop of the mussels possibly smothering the bivalve from being able to filter. Who's to say what the result of this will be in a couple of years, maybe they'll control the zebra Mussel problem (doubt it). (For more info on these sponges stay tune to this web site for a future article) Unfortunately scientists believe that zebra mussels will be impossible to eradicate so control strategies and the prevention of spreading is our only means of defense (for now). As the new millennia draws near the current trend of ecological change and degradation continues to mount. Remember, Zebra Mussels are only a small part of our environmental problems.

MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION ON THE ZEBRA MUSSEL
Preferred Parameters of the Zebra Mussel: Water temp between 4 and 27 degrees C, salinity levels below 8 ppt (parts per thousand), and Calcium levels no less than 25 ppm (parts per million). These parameters can be found in just about every lake in North America.
Zebra mussels generate a tuft of fibers known as byssal threads from glands in their feet. These threads attach to hard surfaces with an adhesive secretion that anchors the mussel in place. When necessary, young mussels can break away from their attachments and generate new, buoyant threads that allow them again to drift with the currents and find a new surface. The mussels attach to any firm surface such as rock, metal, wood, glass, rubber, fiberglass, plants and even other mussels. Mussels prefer depths of less than 12 meter's but can be found at depths of more than 100 meter's at densities of over 70,000/m squared.
Through my research I have found conflicting data on just how much a ZM filters. This number varies from between 1 and 10 L a day for an adult mussel with 1 L being the most common quantity.
Egg production in the mollusk occurs when the water temperature warms to 12 degrees C and are fertilized outside of the shell (they hatch within a couple of days). One adult female Zebra mussel produces up to 40,000 eggs per year. This figure coupled with the 3-5 year life span of a mussel equals a possible 200,000 total eggs produced per mussel.
Phytoplankton concentrations have been reduced by as much as 80% from the great appetites of the zebra mussel. This is causing huge decreases in some forms of zooplankton which feed on the diminished supply of phytoplankton. In turn the smaller fish species and juvenile fry which feed on the zooplankton our finding it harder to feed themselves.
The increased visibility makes it possible for photo energy to penetrate deeper into the water causing heavy blooms of aquatic vegetation to increase greatly (changing the ecology).
Zebra mussels are rejecting blue-green algae which has allowed the plant to flourish over species of algae the mussels do eat. The problem with this is that some forms of this blue-green algae (Microcystis) are toxic to fish and cause gastro-intestinal problems in humans.
The colonization of the mussels on indigenous clams has eradicated some species in some areas.
Fresh water Drum and Carp as well as some species of waterfowl are eating the mussels. This will not help stop the invasion but will only transfer the pollutants Zebra's absorb through filtering to the food chain.
It is estimated that the entire volume of Lake Erie's western basin is filtered between one and three times per week due to it's high concentrations of zebra mussels.
Out of the water, Zebra Mussel's can survive a few days but in moist conditions they can survive almost two weeks. They can spread in many ways (downstream drift, boat traffic, float planes, fishing gear, scuba divers and swimmers, construction and research) making it impossible to completely stop their spread. By attaching themselves to pleasure boats they've spread through the Trent Severn waterways and are now found in the Muskoka's. Ontario's Ministry of Natural Resources spends heavily to educate boaters about how to prevent the spread of Zebra mussels via seminars and brochures.

MUNICIPAL AND INDUSTRIAL PROBLEMS The Zebra mussel presents a very significant threat to industry. Because Zebra mussels are attracted to moving water, they have created major biofouling problems for municipal and industrial raw water users in areas of the Great lakes and surrounding water ways. Where there are established colonies, Zebra mussels have fouled raw water intakes of powerplants and other industry that utilize raw water in there processes. These fouled intakes block pipes and intake valves causing taste and odor problems with freshwater supplies and have caused increased friction and reduced velocity in the pipes of various industrial water intakes. Critical systems effected by the mussel are raw water cooling systems, fire protection systems, raw water contact instruments and sump/dewatering pumps. Besides the industrial problem, the mussels also cause havoc by weighing down navigational buoys and floating docks causing them to become partially and even completely submerged. The shells from shallow water colonies are washing ashore, causing bad odors from there decay and are imposing a danger to swimmers who could cut there feet on the sharp shells. Industry is trying many techniques to combat this infestation problem. UV radiation, ozone, chemical treatment, anti fouling paints etc. are being experimented with, but Chlorine seems to be the method of control for now. With all this in mind it's easy to see how facilities on the Great Lakes expect to spend upwards of 5 billion dollars by the year 2000 to control the infestation.