A large mass of spiny waterfleas have invaded the waters on Lake Superior. Danielle Kaeding has the story.

A mass of spiny waterfleas have taken up shop in the waters of Lake Superior…making for some yucky swimming from Odanah to Michigan. The waterfleas are about a quarter-inch to a half-inch in size with long, barbed tails. Rhinelander Water Resources Specialist Cathy Cleland says they came from the ballast waters of Russian ships passing through. “They can group together and form slimy masses, and that’s what happened off in Lake Superior. I guess the weather conditions are right with this long, hot summer we’ve been having and the dry conditions. GLIFWC actually reported that there was a 20 mile long bloom—I guess we’re calling it—just mass of spiny water fleas that stretched from Long Island in the Bad River Tribe Reservation all the way to Little Girl’s Point in Michigan.” Cleland says the waterfleas hurt fish. “They are voracious eaters. They do feed on other smaller zooplankton, so they’re going to be competition for young fish. The young fish can not eat these zooplankton. Normally, they could, but, because of the long spiny tail, it prevents them from being able to swallow and ingest these.” Cleland hopes that people will take precaution to prevent spreading the waterfleas to inland waters. “We are asking people to be extremely careful as far as washing fishing equipment. Never dump your bait bucket in a lake. Always dump it up on dry land. Wash your boat anchors, or, at least, let them dry out in the sun for five days.” Cleland hopes they can find a way to remove the invasive species…but so far, no luck. Cleland says spiny waterfleas may be small, but they could create big problems for Lake Superior. “Really, it’s too early now to know what’s going to happen. What happens is that they eat the food supply that the small fish would be feeding on. So we may lose some of our smaller fish…the darters, minnows, and that. If you lose that, then you’re going to lose the subsequent supply for some of the larger predatory fish.” Not only that, the spiny waterfleas could get in the way of good catch. “These can raise havoc with fishermen in that they gum up their fishing lines and the leads on the lines. In some cases, they actually had to cut the lines ‘cause it was ruining their fishing equipment.” Cleland hopes to find a way to remove the waterfleas from surrounding waters. “We don’t have any way to get rid of these once they do invade a water body. They’re working on it, but we have so many aquatic invasive species coming in that it’s hard to keep ahead.”

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