A campaign of love for Whirlpool Lake

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 12/07/2018 (2680 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Ever since Whirlpool Lake was closed back in December after its waters tested positive for zebra mussel DNA, officials at Riding Mountain National Park have been encouraging visitors to share their stories of the lake.

Through sharing memories, they hope to educate people more about the detrimental affects zebra mussels may have on our waterways.

“We just want people to know that we’re on it, we understand how important it is, and that we really are watching carefully, it’s important to us too,” said Paul Tarleton, acting park superintendent at Riding Mountain National Park.

As part of a campaign to educate the public about the situation at Whirlpool Lake, RMNP staff created a post card image that said “Dear Whirlpool Lake, Thinking of you” — a way to keep the conversation going. They also posted similarly-worded messages and photos on their Facebook page.

Since being closed after testing positive for zebra mussel environmental DNA, visitors who normally come to the lake have been unable to enjoy the lake and the surrounding scenery.

“It’s a place to see wildlife, it’s a place to experience a quiet nature, it’s quite accessible and yet it’s in wonderful condition, it’s a great lake to paddle on, it has a lot of really nice qualities that people appreciate,” Tarleton said.

By creating conversations around the lake and visitor experiences there, they hope to bring more awareness to the adverse affects zebra mussels can have on such a delicate ecosystem.

“We all have a lake that we love or that we’ve got a relationship with almost, and in order to protect them we’ve got to be knowledgeable about our boats, are they clean, have we taken the proper precautions,” Tarleton said.

Still, the positive environmental DNA test in December doesn’t necessarily mean there were zebra mussels in Whirlpool Lake.

“It’s just something that an animal leaves behind as it passes through an environment, so collocally it could have come out the back of a duck for all we know,” Tarleton said.

The most recent testing at the end of June for environmental DNA came back negative, but he said they still have to be cautious about when they reopen the lake.

“If we make a mistake, then Whirlpool is at the top of the water shed, it could affect water bodies down stream and it could certainly affect water bodies within Riding Mountain National Park,” Tarleton said.

They are regularly conducting tests, but he said that it still won’t be open anytime this year. Manitobans just need to look to Lake Winnipeg to see the devastation that zebra mussel infestations can cause in an aquatic environment.

“They’ll tell you there’s now piles of shells washing up on beaches where there didn’t used to be, and they’re stinking,” Tarleton said.

In order for the lake to open again for visitors to enjoy, they need to get very strong negative results for environmental DNA, and not see any larva thus summer Tarleton said.

For now, the goal is simply to educate visitors to Riding Mountain about how zebra mussels could affect the lakes they love.

“These guys can do a lot of damage to a water body, they can change a water body, so people have to become knowledgeable,” Tareleton said.

“We’re hoping for the best and hoping that we can find after testing that zebra mussels are not present, and get people back to enjoying the place.”

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