So far, we’ve done an otter trawl, plankton tow, and water chemistry. For the otter trawl, we dragged a net across the bottom for ten minutes. We ended up catching 60 round gobies, which are invasive to the Great Lakes region, two perch and one native crayfish. For the plankton tow, we dropped plankton net 115 feet deep and pulled it back up. We then emptied our net and investigated our findings under a microscope. For water chemistry, we tested the dissolved oxygen in the water and ph. While collecting our data, we recorded all of it so we can share our findings with our peers and help them take action against these issues.

We first arrived in Leland, Michigan where we took a tour of the fish town that is still around from the 1900s. After a brief three to four hour sail we arrived in Frankfort, Michigan. This is the spot where we conducted most of our experiments thus far. The next morning we sailed for about six hours to Ludington, Michigan. Many of us were very excited to hear that they had showers and bathrooms available to us. We left the next morning on a very long seven hour voyage to Muskegon, Michigan. The ride over was filled with many rocks and rolls from the boat getting tossed around from the waves. We all were very happy when we arrived in Muskegon and look forward to the adventures ahead.

 We are all excited to sail into Chicago for the Tall Ships Festival. Before we do that, we are all looking forward to good sailing weather and having some of our questions about the lakes answered by our research and some people we meet along the way. Collecting and recording valuable data for our research projects needs to be done to have a fulfilled journey on Lake Michigan.

Posted by Marty and Conrad