Alpena – The third largest freshwater lake on the planet has been invaded by more than 180 exotic species over the last century. A new documentary film produced by Grand Valley State University faculty and students explores the threat to the ecosystem and some innovative solutions.
A screening of “Lake Invaders: The Fight for Lake Huron,” will be shown Saturday, Dec. 12, at 7 p.m. at the Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary’s Great Lakes Maritime Heritage Center Theater in Alpena. A question and answer session with filmmakers and scientists will follow the screening. The event is free and open to the public. A three-minute trailer of the film can be viewed at http://www.vimeo.com/6774908.
Produced by associate professor John Schmit, the film has been in the making for more than two years. Primary filming took place during spring 2008, as part of a new Nature Documentary Production course.
“We packed all our gear into a van, headed over to Lake Huron, and had a great experience filming on boats, in biology labs and tackle shops,” said Schmit. “The students worked hard in some challenging conditions – especially a cold, choppy day out on the lake.”
Specialists from Grand Valley’s Annis Water Resources Institute, in Muskegon, consulted on the project and spoke with the class early in the course. The idea for the film’s focus came from film and video student Laura Johnson, who had just graduated from Grand Valley. Her father, Jim Johnson, is a research biologist and manager of the Michigan Department of Natural Resources Alpena Fishery Research Station.
“At last count, there were 187 invasive species, with a new one just about every year,” said Jim Johnson. “I felt this was a story that needed to be shared with the people of Michigan, of the Great Lakes region, and with all who cherish these amazing freshwater resources.”
Grand Valley partnered with the research station to develop the film. Johnson welcomed Schmit and his students aboard the “Chinook”, a DNR research vessel first launched in 1947, which was also about the time the invasive sea lamprey was wrecking havoc on the Lake Huron ecosystem. Lampreys caused the destruction of native lake trout and whitefish populations, among other species. At that time, the “Chinook” was serving the DNR’s Law Enforcement Division. She was transferred to the Alpena Research Station in 1968. Since then the research station has encountered alewives, zebra mussels, round gobies and many other invasive species brought in with navigation projects, most from the ballast water of salt-water shipping vessels. The DNR’s Alpena station and their vessel, the “Chinook” have studied their effects on Lake Huron’s ecosystem, and on the people of coastal communities that depend on Lake Huron for their economic well being.
Having worked on Lake Huron for more than 20 years, Johnson connected the film crew with dozens of people whose lives are closely linked to the lake, including an international group of biologists known as the Lake Huron Technical Committee, who share fishery and resource management responsibilities for Lake Huron, and influential resource managers such as Dr. Howard Tanner, who has served as both chief of Fisheries and director of the DNR, and remains a member of the Lake Huron Citizen Fishery Advisory Committee.
“Hopefully, an informed citizenry will use the information from the film to help influence the legislative and regulatory agencies’ current debate on ballast water management,” said Johnson. “We are also hoping to secure funding to generate teaching tools and lesson plans for teachers, based on short segments of the film.”
For more information, contact John Schmit at (616) 331-8510, or visit www.lakeinvaders.com.
Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary’s Great Lakes Maritime Heritage Center theater is located at 500 West Fletcher Street in Alpena. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. for the screening. There is no charge for this event. For visitor center and Sanctuary information, call Sarah Waters at (989) 356-8805 or visit www.thunderbay.noaa.gov.
