It’s come to my attention over the last couple of weeks that the Leland Harbor (right next to our beloved Fishtown) is not only a popular launching point into Lake Michigan for summer boaters and fishing enthusiasts – but also for the DNR, National Park Service, and scientists from all over the Great Lakes. While visitors are still waking up and having their morning coffee, there’s a completely different group out and about on the docks of Fishtown. As someone who finds fieldwork and research projects relating to the Great Lakes fascinating, I couldn’t believe that this vital launching site was sitting right under my nose for so many years. I’ve lived here my whole life and thought I knew everything there was to know about Fishtown, but there really is always something new to discover and it’s thrilling to know that Leland has long been a hotspot in Northern Michigan for this sort of activity.
I made these discoveries at the end of May when I had my first outing as an intern for the Fishtown Preservation Society (FPS). Since 2017, the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee has launched a weather monitoring buoy out of Leland Harbor to track and document physical, chemical, and biological changes going on in the lake. Officially known as the Sleeping Bear Buoy on the university website, the buoy is situated roughly 4.25 km off of Good Harbor Bay, and sits at a depth of about 10 meters. This buoy is one of many across the Great Lakes, and is part of a larger project managed by the Great Lakes Observing System (GLOS). GLOS is a regional association that works with the Integrated Ocean Observing System, and it’s awesome to think about how the Sleeping Bear Buoy is linked with such an expansive network of information and people. These deployed buoys aren’t the only projects GLOS oversees, but they are one of the most crucial tools for gathering real time observations in marine ecosystems. Land stations and satellites are unable to provide real time data in these remote areas, so these buoys help to make better predictions for weather forecasting and climate models, and act as a guide for influencing lakeshore safety systems.
I was lucky enough to not only meet the humble creator of the Sleeping Bear Buoy, but I also got the chance to join his incredible team out on the lake to take water samples of the surrounding area. Dr. Harvey Bootsma has been monitoring this station since the buoy’s first launch in 2017, and he has nearly a decade’s worth of data collected. With a B.A. in Marine Biology and a Ph.D. in Limnology, Dr. Bootsma is renowned in the work that he does surrounding lake ecology and aquatic food webs. Along with the buoy set in Good Harbor, his team sets out two others: one off of Green Bay, and another near Milwaukee. The data collected from these buoys is accessible to anyone who may be interested, providing real time monitoring of weather and water conditions that you can view on the GLOS Seagull website.
Visually, the construction of the buoy is straightforward. The top section which sticks out above the water is where the bulk of this device is located. Three solar panels are affixed to the top with poles, powering the buoy and providing enough energy to last through the day. If the buoy happens to run out of power, it doesn’t stop recording data. The live monitoring aspect of the buoy may be disrupted in this scenario, but the buoy will continue to record data throughout the power loss, and once activated by sun the data will then be updated to the website. Cormorants have the habit of perching on the buoy, resulting in a guano (bird poo) covered buoy by the end of the summer. In an effort to keep these pesky birds away, the team has crafted a wire crown of sorts, with spiky pieces sticking off the top of the buoy to make it less than ideal for perching on.
If you take a look between the solar panels, that is where the weather monitoring station is located. This white plastic device that peaks out from the top records data above the surface such as humidity, air temperature, and dew point. Other pieces that record data are located and covered up in the center of the yellow foam mass, and are connected by wire to reach the depths below the surface. Chemical properties measured by the buoy include pH, dissolved oxygen, conductivity, turbidity, and chlorophyll concentrations. These are all central factors in determining water quality. Chlorophyll is an important indicator, because it’s the pigment that plants use to photosynthesize, and can give us an idea of phytoplankton abundance (some of which may be cyanobacteria). Cyanobacteria in excess amounts can result in algal blooms which are periods where algae grows rapidly, and when it dies off the decomposition process depletes those areas of oxygen – causing eutrophication.
This process of rapid growth and decay creates hypoxic conditions better known as dead zones. Just as it sounds, dead zones make it nearly impossible for marine life to survive, which devastates the ecological food web and essentially creates areas that are devoid of biological diversity and life. This is why keeping track of chlorophyll levels can help in regards to early identification of phytoplankton abundance if concentrations were to appear higher than normal. Dr. Bootsma has
provided a reference photo that shows how algae can build up on rocks at the bottom of the lake, and this is where low-oxygen conditions can be detected in Lake Michigan when the algae eventually detaches and begins to die off between these rock crevices. Aside from those areas, dead zones are typically not a major concern in Lake Michigan, especially in comparison to the ones caused by Lake Erie’s algal blooms. These differences we see between the lakes are due to a variety of factors, but what increases Lake Erie susceptibility to eutrophication is its shallow depth and warm temperatures. What’s happening in Lake Michigan is actually the opposite of Lake Erie’s problems. Data over the years shows that there is too LITTLE phytoplankton, and this is because of the invasive quagga mussels that filterfeed on the phytoplankton (which is why Lake Michigan has such clear waters). Transitioning from a classroom setting studying these topics to actually being out on the open water and being a part of this hands-on experience was something I’ve been hoping to do, and leaves no room for doubt that I’m on the right track for what I want to do in my future.
The data that is collected helps researchers and scientists, but they’re not the only groups who routinely check on the tracking site. Both commercial and charter 
fishermen have become avid users of these buoys. The morning I met with Dr. Bootsma, we happened to cross paths with a group of local anglers who were near the dock. To my surprise, they greeted Dr. Bootsma with the enthusiasm of old friends. I knew Dr. Bootsma only comes up north every so often to manage the buoy, and it was amazing to see the community of people who have come to know and appreciate the work he is doing. It revealed to me the discrete ways one can make a difference in a community. The work that someone does can leave a lasting impression and it was wonderful to see that this buoy and those who manage it have developed a fan club over the last few years.
The way that this buoy is tying a local group of people to science is exciting, and I feel like if this is news to me, it has to be news to others. This isn’t just beneficial to the research community, but also the local community. I think people often hear words like science, research, fieldwork, or data, and they can feel a bit overwhelming. Almost like they belong to a specific word box that can only be applied to the academic field. I was the same way when I was younger, where anything that sounded too technical or brain heavy was something that should be in school, and therefore boring. This buoy is a perfect example of how emerging scientific technology can hit two birds with one stone, acting as a source for education as well as serving the needs of the general public.
Consider the fishermen who have taken a liking to this device. They’re able to make calculated decisions now because of the data these buoys show them, and it can vastly improve their day out on the lake now, compared to the past when they only had the weather forecast to rely on—and it’s right at the tip of their fingers! They can determine how choppy the lake conditions will be at surface based on the wave height measurements, while also figuring out where certain fish are more likely to be. The Chinook and Coho salmon that the charter fishermen seek prefer cold waters, and the buoys are able to track the temperature at each meter below surface level, so this can act as a helpful indicator for the fishermen to predict at what depth they need to be fishing.
The first week of June has come and gone, I’m starting to get the feeling that I always do once it’s June. I’m sure many others share sentiments of how this time of
year is like a foreshadowing of how quickly summer will go by. One minute it’s early April and you’re feeling the sun for the first time in months. You blink and the next thing you know you’re in June and you can finally wear shorts but then suddenly it’s the end of August and you’re eating Thanksgiving dinner when out of nowhere BOOM happy new year! Maybe that’s a bit of an exaggeration, but I’m sitting here thinking how everyone tells me that time passes quicker as you grow older, and if it’s already going this fast how am I going to catch a break when I’m ACTUALLY old?
All that being said, I think it’s easy to get in your head that time slips away too quickly. I clearly have this problem myself, and this is the first year I’ve made the conscious decision to try and catch myself having these thoughts and force myself to shake them off and be present. I was talking to a friend earlier this year, and she told me that I had to stop thinking so intently about the future, and rather focus on where I am, what I’m doing, and how to be appreciative of the things right in front of me I know I’ll one day miss. That advice has stuck with me the last few months, and there’s no better place to be grounded than in the Land of Delight. I’m choosing to carry this outlook going forward into the summer and take each day as it is. I can only hope that my advice helps you to do the same.
See you guys next Tuesday!
Emma
Sources to check out
- NOAA article about weather buoy network: https://www.noaa.gov/multimedia/photos-images/photo-story-so-how-do-you-maintain-huge-weather-buoy-network
- GLOS Buoy webpage: https://glos.org/observing/buoys/
- The Harvey Bootsma Lab: https://sites.uwm.edu/hbootsma/
- University of Wisconsin Milwaukee Sleeping Bear Buoy webpage: https://uwm.edu/freshwater/research/great-lakes-observing-system/monitoring-assets-locations/sleeping-bear-buoy/
- More on deadzones: https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/deadzone.html