Today was a full day on Lake Michigan for the teacher team. Some gained a much needed full night’s rest while others got up with the dawn for an early station.

The early start was worth it to taste lake water taken from what is called the “Deep Hole.”

Matt Katzer said of the experience, “What a tremendous time toasting the Great Lake Michigan with water from 700 feet down this morning. Now that’s what I call a teachable moment!”

Mary explained the event, “This morning at 6 A.M. the rosette equipment was lowered to 700 feet. The water was 3.5 degrees Celsius. Those who were up for the sampling drank Lake Michigan water and toasted the lake. We discussed that the water could be from 100-1000 years old. Jim assured us that deep water is safe. We need to watch out for the stuff that comes from land. That’s the stuff that can make human’s sick.”

While the rosette was sent down to gather the morning sample, a bag was attached carrying styrofoam cups that the team had decorated last night. When the rosette returned to the surface the cups had been compressed by the pressure of the water above. They will serve well as a lesson in water pressure for our students.

The morning sampling team also tested an experiment using M&Ms to help understand water’s absorption of light energy.

Later, and periodically throughout the day, the team had time to work on their projects. Everyone kept busy working on flags, experiments, and concept maps.

Even the crew had plenty to do throughout the day.

We took a break from our projects to focus on the final round of teacher presentations on the O2 deck. We were introduced to lessons about measuring the dead zone of Lake Erie, making model wetlands, water rites of the Great Lakes, and invasive species.

In the afternoon, Helen gave an overview of creatures of the Great Lakes along with facts about Lake Michigan that we all are glad to add to our tool belts such as: Lake Michigan has a retention time of 99 years, and the word Michigan comes from the Algonkian Indians word for large body of water, Michigami.
Throughout the day samples were taken at several stations and everyone continued to work on projects.

Dr. Hook was the last speaker of the day. He explained to the group what dead zones are and how they form. Aneal commented, “Tonight’s talk on hypoxia in Lake Erie was great! It is another important issue impacting the Great Lakes. I cannot wait to implement this topic into my lessons.”
Greg also enjoyed Dr. Hook’s dialogue, “I liked Dr. Hook’s analogy of Lake Erie to the Three Bears: the central zone is just right.”

After Dr. Hook’s presentation the sun set on another day on the waters of Lake Michigan and the team made plans for tomorrow then bunked down for the night in preparation for another day fill of activities and learning that tomorrow will surely bring.

This morning the team met up with Mark Breederland from Michigan Sea Grant just after breakfast for our planned activities.

Our first stop was a visit with the crew of the Inland Seas Education Association, aboard their school ship schooner.

The schooner serves as an educational ship with programs for students to learn about water testing similar to those that the Lake Guardian does.

A museum nearby highlighted several of the aquatic invasive species in the Great Lakes.


Everyone appreciated the hands-on displays and that even helped visitors understand methods of introduction for each invader.


One particular favorite was a giant sea lamprey that just seemed to take hold of us!



Our next stop was the Grand Traverse Lighthouse, which was located inside the Leelanau State Park at the tip of the Leelanau Penninsula.

The lighthouse has been guiding ships and sailors since it was built in 1858. “Today was great to see some cultural aspects of the Great Lakes.” – Aneal Padmanabha


Next on our itinerary was Fishtown Preservation Society.


According to its website, “The Fishtown Preservation Society (FPS) was originally created in 2001 through the efforts of local citizens dedicated to promoting and preserving the historical and fishing heritage of Fishtown.


In 2004, the Carlson Family decided to sell Fishtown and hoped to sell it to an entity which would preserve it. FPS soon after became the vehicle for the community to acquire Fishtown. In June 2006, FPS reached an agreement to purchase Fishtown for the amount of $2.8 million for the Fishtown real estate and $200,000 for the two fishing boats, and related fishing licenses and equipment from the Carlson family.

Tracey said, “I was completely impressed by the Fishtown Preservation Society Executive Director, Dr. Amanda Holmes. She clearly is a champion in a chain of enthusiastic support for a historic treasure!”

A rescue station near Sleeping Bear Dunes was next on our itinerary.

Susannah describes, “The rescue station was fantastic! I did not expect to get so much good information and pictures that I can directly use in my Shipwrecks Camp this month!”




The Sleeping Bear dune climb was our next stop.


Jeannie explains, “The ranger gave us some good information about the dunes before we jumped right into the climbing challenge. We learned about changes in the dunes, including erosion and invasive species (baby’s breath for example). Climbing to the beach would have taken more time and energy than we had left, so we cut it a little shorter by climbing only 2 slopes… but it was still really tough! The view of both Lake Michigan and Glen Lake was well worth the effort though. Plus the run down was a blast!”


Our final stop was the Sleeping Bear visitor’s center where we enjoyed the wildlife displays and a short rest before we returned to the Lake Guardian.

It has been a fun and information filled day. Matt said about today, “What a day traveling by vehicle in Leelanau Peninsula. I can’t believe the life saving crew would row out in seas of 10 to 15 feet- very courageous! The lake is beautiful! It is apparent why I love Lake Michigan!”

Tonight we will process our information and use it to build our flags and consider how we how we can use that information in our classrooms.

Today started with the team separated into three smaller sampling groups. One group stayed up into the early morning hours to collect a Mysis (small shrimp) sample in the dark in addition to running a bongo net and a plankton sample. Isaac Cotrell thought that collecting during the night was a “very cool experience.”

While this group tried to catch up on some much needed sleep, a second group got up early this morning to run another set of samples, this one including the rosette, PONAR, and Secchi disk.

While this group began to sort through all of the data the rest of the team got up at the regular time and began the day lending a hand in the labs and working on their flags.

Later on our lead scientist, Dr. Tomas Hook, addressed the team about the survival of fish larva in the Great Lakes and made connections were possible between the reproductive strategies of Great Lakes and Ocean fishes.

Helen Domske followed that presentation with a talk on invasive species and their impact on Lake Michigan’s ecosystem.

After those presentations the team took a break for lunch then each member took a turn at the iron to put the Lake Guardian logo on their t-shirt.

Next the team moved to the sunny O2 deck to enjoy another group of 5 teachers presenting the lesson plans they selected from the COSEE Greatest of the Great Lakes disk.

Not long after the presentations finished we arrived in Traverse City, where our Captain’s parking deserved applause!

Mark Breederland, from Michigan Sea Grant, met the team and welcomed us with chocolate covered cherries…a delicacy of the region. We walked to the Great Lakes Maritime Academy, where we learned about unique college programming available in this area.

Chris Hedge was impressed by the new freshwater studies Associate Degree program and how it was created to fit the needs of today’s maritime careers. According to Chris, “there are so many students that are not interested in a 4-year degree, or who drop-out, that this program would be ideal for them.”

After the presentation we all returned to the ship where we all enjoyed yet another of the Lake Guardian’s famous dinners then started our night on the town in Traverse City!

Today started out with everyone dividing into our groups: A = Alewives, B = Bass and C= Cohoe.

At our first station the groups were assigned duties including PONAR, Rosette, and nets.

As soon as samples were collected, the groups moved to the labs and began to identify species and make use of water samples.

After the first station, the Lake Guardian came into Green Bay through the Sturgeon Bay Ship Canal


Here we saw amazing wildlife including cormorants, pelicans, and even a bald eagle!

With the help of some American Courage,

and in the backdrop of Green Bay

teacher presentations took place on the O2 deck.

Later, everyone participated in the second station and began to collect data.

After another amazing dinner, the crew took more samples including the benthic sled while the teachers looked on and others spent more time in the lab.




In the evening, everyone relaxed as we viewed the “Mysteries of the Great Lakes” video and learned about the fight of sturgeon to stay alive despite human onslaught.

It was an early night for many this evening as it was announced that there will be another station at 1A.M. and our 4th at 6A.M. These are both optional but the excitement of participating in this data collection sent most to bed with plans to get up for the station!

Today our group gathered at the Fresh Water Institute in Milwaukee where we all got to know each other with an Asian Carp ice breaker!

Next, several speakers addressed the group:

Susan Boehme spoke to the group about the EPA

Marcia Silva described her research to the group and the possibilities of improving current beach testing methods from current methods which take 24 to 48 hours for results to a more immediate method involving lasers, and Jordan Crago talked to the group about the new pollution: medications, cleaners, and non-point source pollutants from the general population found in water in small but persistent amounts.

Russell Cuhel and Carmen Aguilar spoke about the change in the mussel population from zebra mussels to quagga mussels. They showed us how quagga mussels have the adaptive advantage with the ability to survive in deeper, colder waters while filtering more efficiently by standing on end rather than laying on their sides.

After the presentations the Jim Lubner lead the group on a tour through the Water Institute culminating in our arrival to the Lake Guardian where the crew greeted us and we reviewed safety on board.

After an amazing dinner, we ran through a safety drill on the O2 deck. Everyone looked like red Gumbies in their survival suits and after a good laugh, we got serious and made sure everyone knew what to do in case of emergency!

Later, Tomas Hook explained our general itinerary and the types of sampling that we will be engaged in. During his discussion we also learned that PONARs were invented by 5 Great Lakes scientists from the University of Michigan and were first available for sale in 1966.

Finally, Jim talked to the group about concept mapping: our assignment is to create 2 lists for concept mapping later this evening.
The first is about things that you associate with the Great Lakes and the second is terms and concepts that you can teach about the Great Lakes in your classroom. We also need to find our groups for our project and find something that someone else has learned today! Time to get busy!!!

But first, the sunset

10 Facts about the Great Lakes that our teachers learned today!
1. 8 out of 100,000 people will get sick with a beach test of 235.
2. Quagga mussels have a thinner shell than zebra mussels.
3. Some fish eat quagga mussels.
4. Lake Michigan’s phytoplankton are getting smaller.
5. The Great Lakes contain 20% of the world’s surface fresh water.
6. The Great Lakes are changing to a benthic system.
7. The GLWI used to be a tile factory.
8. O of W is going to have a fresh water maters program.
9. Quagga mussels were named after an extinct relative of zebras.
10. Invasives don’t enter the Great Lakes via the St. Lawrence Seaway; they are released into Lake St. Clair in ballast water due to shallow waters.