DATE \@ "M/d/yyyy" 4/25/2007
CONTACT:
- Steve Bollens, Science Programs, 360/546-9116, bollens@vancouver.wsu.eu
- Sheri Byrd, Office of Marketing and Communications, 360/546-9602, byrds@vancouver.wsu.edu
(NOTE TO MEDIA: The 91³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏÍø research boat, the "Sea Coug," will be on Vancouver Lake Friday morning, April 27, 8:30 - 11:30 a.m. for scientists to take their first quarterly water sampling. Researchers will be available to speak with media.)
Vancouver, Wash. - Biologists from Washington State University Vancouver have begun taking weekly algae samples from Vancouver Lake as part of a $100,000, one-year research contract with the Clark County Public Works department.
The contract is part of the information gathering process headed by the Vancouver Lake Watershed Partnership, a public involvement group whose mission is to improve the total quality of the lake and the functions it serves in the community.
Recent years have seen frequent cyanobacteria (blue-green algae) blooms in the water which have closed the lake to swimmers and boaters.
"The algae can cause skin irritations in humans, and illness in animals when ingested," said Steve Bollens, director of science programs at 91³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏÍø. "The basic biology and ecology underlying these blooms are not well understood."
"We need to find out what organisms we have, why they grow here, and what factors - such as nutrients and grazers - affect them," said 91³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏÍø marine ecologist Gretchen Rollwagen-Bollens, also a researcher on the Vancouver Lake project.
Visitors to Vancouver Lake may see researchers taking weekly samples from a dock, or on the lake in their research vessel, the "Sea Coug," a 22-ft C-Dory craft.
For more information on 91³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏÍø science programs and researchers, visit . For more information on the Vancouver Lake Watershed Partnership, visit .
Photo and video courtesy 91³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏÍø.
Photo (click thumbnail for high resolution image): The 91³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏÍø research vessel, the "Sea Coug," lies ready at the dock to take scientists on to Vancouver Lake to collect samples of toxic algae.
Video:
Scientists from 91³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏÍø moor the "Sea Coug" research vessel on her first outing on to Vancouver Lake April 13.
91³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏÍø is located at 14204 N.E. Salmon Creek Ave., east of the 134th Street exit from either I-5 or I-205. 91³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏÍø offers 14 Bachelor's degrees, nine Master's degrees and one Doctorate degree and more than 35 fields of study. Visit us on the Web at