Zebra Mussels in the Fox River
Zebra Mussels are mollusks. They grow no bigger than a fingernail. They have a hard outer shell for protection. Zebra Mussels don't swim. They move about by the current. Usually they are just stuck in the sand on the bottom of the river or lake.
Zebra Mussels have most likely arrived here from Europe. They stuck to ships and traveled to Canada and the United States. From there they attached to different boats and traveled to different lakes and rivers. Today Zebra Mussels are in almost all of the rivers and major lakes.
Zebra Mussels are good in a way. They suck ten times as much PCB's and toxic condiments then Native American mussels. Zebra Mussels also filter out the water. By filtering out the water, they make the river or lake cleaner and clearer from pollution and toxic condiments.
Zebra Mussels are also very destructive. One of the reasons that they are bad is that they can stick onto boat engines and motors. By doing so they could break the boat by being caught in the pipes of the engine or motor and sometimes break the boat.
Zebra Mussels are also bad because they
filter the water. By doing so they eat all of the nutrients and
food in the water. By filtering out all of the food and nutrients
other organisms don't have the food and nutrient to survive.
In other words the Zebra Mussels hog all of the food and the
other organisms suffer from hunger. Zebra Mussels can filter
1 liter o
f
water a day each. All of the Zebra Mussels put together in the
Great Lakes can filter all of the water once a week.
Zebra Mussels can clog and restrict the flow of water through intake pipes in lakes and rivers. This can effect and reduce the supply of drinking, cooling and irrigating waters needed by various businesses.
There are some ways to prevent Zebra Mussels. One of the most common ways is Chlorine. In addition, different chemicals can prevent them from doing any damage. The other ways are hot water, potassium, bromine, ozone, and ultraviolet light can work as a substitute for Chlorine.
I think that in the future, if nobody finds a cure for Zebra Mussel population will grow enormously. It will grow so huge that there will be almost is now food left. Many species will not have enough food to survive. There will be some species that are going to go extinct.
I
went online and emailed some questions to a very nice man named
Phillip Moy. Luckily he responded and told me some things about
Zebra Mussels. He said that the effects of Zebra Mussels on the
Fox River will be very similar to the effects they have had on
other rivers. Zebra Mussels also have an effect on raw materials.
Zebra Mussels attach to any hard surface that they can find.
The greatest concentrations of Zebra Mussels will most likely
be found in the mouth of the river. Another thing that he said
was that Zebra Mussels cannot be controlled in a natural lake
or river. We can only attempt to prevent their spread and control
their effects on raw water users. Phillip Moy was a big part
of my project and I am happy that he responded.