Algae bloom alert in effect for all of Chickenbone Lake

[Midwest Ed]

There is an algae bloom alert presently in effect for all of Chickenbone Lake. Do not drink the water or use it for cooking. No amount of filtering, boiling or purification can make it safe to drink. It is very harmful to ingest.

[Tortuga]

Oh man. I'm hoping this clears up before mid-September. This is the one thing I'm worried about with my upcoming trip, since I'll be staying at pretty much all the inland lake sites (Desor, Hatchett, Richie, Chickenbone).

[MikeT]

I have only heard of blooms at Chickenbone Lake befoer (I could be wrong). If staying at Chickenbone West, Lake Livermore is a short hike for water. I did that last time there was a bloom and I was there.

[Tom]

Ritchie bloomed last year about this time. Between Ritchie and Chickenbone, those seem to consistently be the two biggest lakes at risk. I don't recall ever hearing one at Desor or Hatchet. If Siskiwit ever bloomed, I'd be shocked.

[Midwest Ed]

Between Ritchie and Chickenbone, those seem to consistently be the two biggest lakes at risk. I don't recall ever hearing one at Desor or Hatchet. If Siskiwit ever bloomed, I'd be shocked.

Must be that CB and Ritchie are more popular. All that dish washing and bathing and other human activity is creating an over-abundance of nutrients. At least that's the popular reasoning for outbreaks everywhere else. . . . . he said tongue in cheek. It makes sense though that an increase in these nutrients could worsen an outbreak but they are clearly not the cause. The long standing reports that Desor and Hatchet are void of most fish life could maybe indicate an overall lower level of all types of aquatic life and hence nutrients, but I think the leeches thrive there due to no fish. I couldn't find a resource on each lake's depth or volume as a correlation to average temperatures but as you say, Siskiwit would be far too cold to be affected.

[Tom]

I know the Science Museum of Minnesota is studying it; I haven't been able to find any updates/reports/field notes for it, though. Nature, as always, proves fascinating.
https://www.smm.org/scwrs/fieldnotes/re ... ow-why-yet

[Midwest Ed]

Thanks for the link Tom. My research did not turn it up. It's good to see others are looking for additional answers. Also looks like the researchers found a little time to get in some fishing. I hope it wasn't CB or Ritchie

[LarryL]

I can’t find anything specific to Chickenbone' but this article about a bloom on Lake Superior discusses some causes.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/29/scie ... toxic.html