Do you enjoy being outdoors, looking at bugs, and helping with the protection of your lake? Have you ever wondered what critters hide in the bottom of your lake and why they are there? Those are what are known as Benthic Macroinvertebrates (or benthos), and they are actually fantastic indicators of water quality!
These critters live in the bottom muck of your lake and include insect larvae, beetles, snails, clams, and worms. Some of them actually only spend part of their life underwater until they grow wings and fly off to spend the rest of their lives out of water.
These critters can tell you how clean your water is because some are very sensitive to chemicals and other bad things in your water, while other species don’t mind. Too many, or not enough, of a certain species can indicate that something is wrong with your lake.
To help you monitor the health of your lake, a Biomonitoring Technician will help you take samples which are then sorted and identified with the help of dedicated volunteers - YOU! All ages are welcome and we encourage you to join us so that we can all help protect our water. This is a fun activity and you also get to learn more about your lake. The whole process usually takes 2 hours.
South Muldrew Lake on Friday, July 11 at 10:00 am at the Luke Cottage 1286 Woodland Drive. If you would like to participate, please contact Tim Luke at timgluke@outlook.com or Cell at 416-464-0470
If you have any questions, or would like to know more about the program and what you can do to protect your watershed, please contact Jess, the Biomonitoring Technician, at biotech@muskoka.on.ca
High School Hours Granted !
We look forward to seeing you out there !
