Great Lakes Daily News

Winter has long been a weak spot of Great Lakes research, in large part because it’s more difficult to gather samples then. With climate change greatly reducing the amount of ice cover compared to decades ago, and wintertime rain becoming more common, scientists worry we are chasing a moving target. Read the full story by the Toledo Blade.

It’s about that time of the year that our pesky friends emerge from Lake Erie. Midges typically hatch when the water temperature is near 60 degrees. They are a sign of good health for Lake Erie and play an important role in the ecosystem. They can also provide food for fish and other aquatic life. Read the full story by WEWS-TV – Cleveland, OH.

The mysterious appearance of a giant rubber duck in Lake Michigan has brought joy to local residents. A 25-foot rubber duck appeared in Lake Michigan near Navy Pier before Chicago residents woke up Friday and nobody knows how it got there. Read the full story by The Daily Scanner.

A Wisconsin angler fishing in the fog this week discovered the wreck of an abandoned tugboat submerged in the waters of Lake Michigan for more than a century. A Wisconsin Historical Society Maritime Archaeologist confirmed that the angler found the wreck of the J.C. Ames.  Read the full story by CBS News.

A Lake Michigan business has captured lightning in a bottle − well almost. The Mac Wood’s Dune Ride team unearthed a fulgurite, or a piece of fossilized lightning, while prepping its trails in the Silver Lake Sand Dunes in Michigan this spring. Read the full story by MLive.

Every spring, deputies with the Macomb County Sheriff’s Office Marine Division in Macomb County, Michigan, meet reporters on the shore of Lake St. Clair to talk about National Safe Boating Week and what all boaters need to know. Read the full story by the Macomb Daily.

As spring fishing ramps up on Lake Superior, anglers are hitting the water in pursuit of steelhead, lake trout, coho and chinook salmon. To help protect wild steelhead, Minnesota Sea Grant is distributing free identification decals to help anglers distinguish between steelhead and other salmon species while they’re out on the water. Read the full story by Pioneer Press.

The Lake Erie water snake (LEWS), Nerodia sipedon insularum, is a described subspecies that has been found on 22 of Lake Erie’s islands and is believed to, at least seasonally, inhabit 16. Researchers will sample at established LEWS sites from May 31 to June 12. Read the full story by the Sandusky Register.

Toy sailboat races, singing and dancing pirates, Coastie the robot safety boat and birds of prey were just a few of the attractions that lined the dock outside Oswego, New York’s H. Lee White Maritime Museum at noon on Saturday to celebrate the beginning of the museum’s summer season on Lake Ontario. Read the full story by Oswego County News Now.

President Trump wants to eliminate all federal funding for the Integrated Ocean Observing System’s regional operations. Scientists say the cuts could mean the end of efforts to gather real-time data crucial to navigating the Great Lakes. Read the full story by MLive.