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Let’s Go Snorkeling — Explore the exciting underwater world of Vermont lakes.
Chapter Connections: All About Vermont Lakes , Chapter 3, Lake Habitat
Background
Many people have enjoyed the lakes in Ver- mont by fishing, boating, swimming, or some other fun activity. However, most of these ex- periences probably have taken place above the water surface. Underwater, a very exciting world awaits to be discovered!
With just a swimming mask or a viewing scope, you can dive into another world. This is what Jacques Cousteau discovered, while attending summer camp as a 10 year-old boy at Harvey’s Lake in Barnet, Vermont. While diving to clean- up trash along the lake’s shore, Cousteau be- came fascinated with the underwater world. His interest grew and eventually lead him into marine ecology and ultimately to become the world’s most famous aquatic biologist and con- servationist.
Many of the Vermont State Parks are located on lakes and offer easy and safe access for snorkeling. Beyond a sandy beach, look for aquatic plant beds, rocky shores, or natural shorelands with little development. It’s more likely to see fish at these sites. The more di- verse the habitat (submerged woody structure,
Let’s Go Snorkeling!
Become Jacques Cousteau and explore the exciting underwater world of Vermont lakes.
Vermont Standards
7.13 The Living World
7.16 Natural Resources and Agriculture
3.9 Sustainability
Summary Skip the flight to the Caribbean, and grab your snorkel to discover the amazing diversity of aquatic plants and fish in a Vermont lake! Objectives Õ To discover the elements that make up an ecosystem. Õ To be submerged in exploring the world of lake animals and plants. Õ To increase appreciation for the diversity of Vermont lake life.
varied aquatic plants, shaded versus full sun areas, deep and shallow waters, etc.), the greater chance of seeing a variety of species.
Appendix A provides a set of field sheets to use to help identify what you see as you swim and snorkel in a Vermont lake.
Since lakes stratify (upper top layer of the lake is warmer than the lower layers), its possible to feel the thermocline while swimming.
Limnetic or Pelagic Zones These zones refer to the open water areas of a lake and occur because of temperature gradi- ents, or lake stratification. Because water be- comes more dense as it decreases in tempera-
Let’s Go Snorkeling — Explore the exciting underwater world of Vermont lakes.
"From birth man carries the weight of gravity on his shoulders. — But man has only to sink beneath the surface and he is free. — Un- derwater, man be- comes an archangel.” Jacques Cousteau
Jacques Cousteau 1910 — 1997 Cousteau is the most famous marine biologist, known for his outstanding contributions to- wards understanding ocean life. While study- ing the underwater life, Cousteau taught the rest of the world about the unique problems aquatic life faces because of human en- croachment in these environments.
Cousteau’s first dive was in Lake Harvey, Vermont in the summer of 1920.
Cousteau’s team diving off his research boat, the Calypso
Lake Life
ture, the colder layers of water are at the bot- tom of the lake. (The exception to this principle is that water reaches its maximum density at approximately 40° F, and as it cools further and freezes into ice, it actually becomes less dense, allowing ice to float!)
The Epilimnion is the upper, warmest layer. The Metaliminion is the middle layer. The Hypolimnion is the bottom, coldest layer.
Lake shore areas greatly influence the health of an entire lake ecosystem. A lake’s shore area is divided into several zones, each of which offer unique lake protection and aquatic habitat fea- tures. Shoreland Zone This is the area on the shore above the high water line and vegetated with a mixture of trees, shrubs and plants. Riparian Zone The riparian zone sits between the shoreland and littoral zones with some overlap on both sides. It consists of vegetated uplands that are influenced by the lake level and water quality. Littoral Zone This area starts from the riparian zone and ex- tends down to the furthest extent of rooted plant growth in the lake. It is shallow with sunlight penetrating to the bottom. Benthic area The benthic area makes up the bottom sedi- ments, which support many organisms.
Let’s Go Snorkeling — Explore the exciting underwater world of Vermont lakes.
Additional Resources:
Check out the Vermont State Parks web page for information of parks located on lakes. www.vtstateparks.com
The Vermont Lakes and Ponds Section has aquatic plant dichotomous keys that are avail- able upon request by calling 802-241-3777.
The Vermont Project WET program has an aquatic plant guide that can be loaned out. This guide shows full page, beautiful colored pictures of most aquatic plants. Call the Ver- mont Lakes and Ponds Section at 802-241- 3777 to arrange to borrow this guide.
The Lake Champlain Committee has a wonder- ful dichotomous fish key for easy identification of most of the fish in Vermont. Contact them at: www.lakechamplaincommittee.org, or by calling 802-658-1414.
Fishes of Vermont, written by three Agency of Natural Resources biologists, provides color pictures of the 92 fish species in Vermont. This field guide offers fascinating natural history
Image from: www.fcps.edu/islandcreekes/
accounts for all Vermont’s fish species. Books cost $24.95, with proceeds from sales supporting the Fish and Wildlife Depart- ment’s Nongame and Natural Heritage Program. To order a copy, call: 1-800-515-2475.
Let’s Go Snorkeling — Explore the exciting underwater world of Vermont lakes.
Lake Ecosystem — Energy Flow
Consumers: zooplankton fish mammals
Decomposers: bacteria fungi
Inorganic Nutrients: phosphorus nitrogen
Producers: phytoplankton plants
sunlight
Follow Up Questions
Use the above diagram to draw in what you saw snorkeling. Compare it to the diagram on the left of how energy flows within a healthy lake ecosystem. Based on what you saw, do you think all four levels of the eco- system are represented in the lake?
Do you think that the areas you snorkeled are part of a healthy lake ecosystem?
How many lake shore zones (shoreland, riparian, littoral, benthic) could you identify?
What did you expect to see? If you didn’t see what you thought you’d find, then why do you think that is the case?
