New research shows that having ships dump their ballast water before entering the Great Lakes might not be enough to stop the growth of invasive species in the region. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Lester Graham reports:
Transcript
New research shows that having ships dump their ballast water before entering the Great Lakes might not be enough to stop the growth of invasive species in the region. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Lester Graham reports:
Freighter ships are now required to exchange their ballast water in the ocean before entering the Great Lakes to flush out aquatic nuisances that might have hitchhiked from foreign ports. But a biology student at the University of Windsor, Sarah Bandoni, has found that the slime and silt at the bottom of the ballast tanks carry lots of eggs. That silt isn’t all removed when the water is flushed. And, despite having been in dark and freezing conditions, when things become better, the eggs can hatch.
“In the most part, I’m finding quite a lot of them are viable, averaging probably 50 to 75-percent of the eggs have been able to hatch.”
Bandoni says that means there’s at least the potential for some of these eggs to escape into Great Lakes ports. About 160 invasive species, such as the zebra mussel have been imported by cargo ships, causing damage to native species, including fish.
For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, this is Lester Graham.