Isle Royale Forums

Warming Superior water temps are affecting the fish populations of Superior.
http://www.duluthnewstribune.com/event/ ... id/267720/

Interesting article, what is interesting about it is that it is, for the most part meaningless. Almost every statement is prefaced with "we think", "could" or "may". Showing once again that no matter how much time and money is spent researching bodies of water the size of the great lakes, all you really get are speculations and guesses. This entire article could be summed up in one paragraph, but that wouldn't fill the funding coffers in order to do more research.

There's an element of uncertainty in any scientific study or research; science observes what is happening, but determining the cause is always more complex. Scientists don't attempt to downplay this fact, which can give their findings seemingly less confidence than many of us have grown accustomed to by the false sense of it that we so often see projected to us from numerous sources.

The acknowledgement of this on the part of scientists and researchers does not make their findings "meaningless" in any way, shape or form.

It's affecting the pirates too. Won't anyone think of the pirates?

Looks like 14.3 C is optimum for pirates to flourish. Can you overlay that with the polar bear population to help me understand the real story?

Its good to see that everybody does not buy into the we think , may , could, "scientific" studies. And true its about more funding.
Of course water temps do affect fish populations.
Warmer? Wasn't Superior 100% frozen for the first time in decades?

A lot has happened since 2013. The winter of 2013/2014 was one of the coldest in decades. You could find ice flows in Lake Superior well into June last year. The Lake stayed cold the entire summer and entered the fall season below normal too. At this time, an ice pack is building nicely on the Lake. At least, for now, the water temps seem to have gotten back to “normal.”