Tag Archives: Jo Latimore

Snapshots: Fun news you need to know from Wyoming and Kentwood

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WKTV Staff

joanne@wktv.org

 

 

Quote of the Day

"I could never resist the call of the trail."  - Buffalo Bill

 

Take a Hike

 

For most of West Michigan, the weather is supposed to be fairly decent on Sunday depending on where you are. This means it will be a great weekend to hit the trails and go exploring. West Michigan has an incredible trail system. My personal favorite is walking the Kent Trails until I get to 84th Street in Byron Centre and then heading over to Houseman’s for an ice cream. (Trust me I’ve earned it by then!)  For more trailblazing ideas, we turn to our friends at the West Michigan Tourist Association who have put together some really cool trail adventures. And we are totally with WMTA when they say “whether you’re traveling by foot or by bike, once you’ve experienced West Michigan immersive trails, you’ll have a hard time getting back in the car at the end of the day.” Amen to that. For more, click here.

 

The Neighbors are having a Party

 

The annual Byron Days Festival takes place this weekend with Saturday being packed full of activities from a pancake breakfast at 7:30 a.m. to a 10:30 a.m. parade and fireworks at dusk. In between there are all kinds of activities such as a classic car show, music, family movies, and food. For more on the event, click here.

 

 

 

The Good Blob

 

A boat owner pulled their pontoon out of Juno Lake (Cass County, in southern Michigan), and discovered a weird, alien-looking, gelatinous blob attached to it below the water line. Was it an invasive species? Toxic algae? Eggs of an alien from outer space!?

 

Jo Latimore from the Michigan State University Extension actually says these blobs are a good thing. To learn more, click here.

 

 

 

Be Involved and be informed

 

In WKTV’s continuing quest to help residents be informed, we take a look at the State House of Representative candidates that are seeking their party’s spot in the upcoming Aug. 7 primary. In the 72nd District race there are two Republican candidates and in the 77th District, there are two Republicans and two Democrats. For more, click here.

 

Fun Fact:

Rollo or Reginald

Those were the names considered for that famous red-nosed reindeer. Rollo was rejected because it sounded too sunny or happy and Reginald was rejected because it was too British. You can catch Rudolph and the gang this November when the musical makes it way to DeVos Performance Hall.

Alien-looking blob discovered in southern Michigan lake

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This alien-looking blob was found attached to a pontoon boat. Photo by C. Daly.

By Jo Latimore, Michigan State University Extension

 

As an aquatic ecologist at Michigan State University who works closely with Michigan State University Extension, I receive a lot of emails and phone calls about mysterious or unusual discoveries in Michigan lakes. I enjoy responding to them, because it gives me a chance to chat with Michigan residents about all sorts of interesting aquatic phenomena.

 

This story begins with one of those messages. A boat owner pulled their pontoon out of Juno Lake (Cass County, in southern Michigan), and discovered a weird, alien-looking, gelatinous blob attached to it below the water line. Was it an invasive species? Toxic algae? Eggs of an alien from outer space!? They contacted a friend on a neighboring lake who happens to be a volunteer in our statewide Cooperative Lakes Monitoring Program, and she reached out to me with a photo and inquiry about the aquatic oddity. I was excited to let her know that they’d discovered a colony of bryozoans!

 

Meet the bryozoans — tiny aquatic organisms that live in colonies. They are filter-feeders, relying on floating bits of food in the water for nourishment. You can view the waving tentacles of a microscopic bryozoan individual on this video. There are many saltwater species of bryozoans, but only a few are native to freshwater lakes. The freshwater bryozoan species that makes blob-like colonies is Pectinatella magnifica. These colonies often form attached to structures like rocks, logs, and — as was the case in Juno Lake — on boats left in the water for a while. Colonies begin to form in the spring, and are most frequently noticed in late summer and fall, when they reach their largest size. Colonies are usually only a few inches across, but can grow to a foot wide or more in the right conditions.

 

Bryozoan colonies attached to the underside of a pontoon boat pulled from Juno Lake, Cass County, Michigan. Bryozoans are harmless, tiny, filter-feeding aquatic invertebrates that can form jelly-like colonies on solid surfaces. Photo by L. Mroczek.

Still, most Michigan residents have never seen a bryozoan colony before, since they are underwater and often small in size. It’s not surprising, then, that these jelly-like, alien-looking blobs raise concern and worry when they are spotted. Luckily, these native species are harmless to humans (although they do occasionally clog pipes). Even better, they are indicators of good water quality, since they depend on healthy waters to survive.

 

To learn more about freshwater bryozoans, check out the Missouri Department of Conservation’s excellent web article. If you find an aquatic oddity in Michigan and aren’t sure what it is, take a picture or two and post it using the  Ask an Expert link on the Michigan State University Extension website.

 

This article was published by Michigan State University Extension. For more information, visit http://www.msue.msu.edu. To have a digest of information delivered straight to your email inbox, visit http://www.msue.msu.edu/newsletters. To contact an expert in your area, visit http://expert.msue.msu.edu, or call 888-MSUE4MI (888-678-3464).