Every invasion starts out small

The forlorned look on Paul Gregory’s face (Maine Department of Environmental Protection) said it all – the worst of the worst aquatic invasives was indeed found in a small lagoon of lovely Damariscotta Lake near Jefferson, ME. That’s the bad news. The good news is that a volunteer lake monitor detected the infestation early, and so far the extent of the infestation appears limited to this lagoon. A legion of volunteers have answered the call for help and have dispatched to survey the remainder of the lake, urgently working in an attempt to beat the seasonal changes in the air. So far no other sites have been identified so it appears that hand removal of the plants may be possible, and containment fields and benthic barriers installed by DEP personnel may be sufficient at preventing further spread. This lake may well have been saved thanks to this one volunteer who made a keen observation and reported it.

The moral of this story is clear: the more eyes we have looking for unwanted invasives, the better. The message to students contributing to the Vital Signs invasive species data is also clear: your data observation may be the tip that saves an entire lake some day and rejoice when an invasive species is NOT FOUND!