Below is a past article from the Lake Water Quality team.  Recently, these “blobs” have been spotted in our lake.  Please read below to learn about it.  Unfortunately, these aerobic animal can cause an issue with your boat intake.  On the other hand, it’s a sign of good water quality.  Hope you find this article helpful.

Blob Sightings

A few residents reported “blobs” growing underwater on their docks and boat lifts late last summer. They looked something like the blob in this picture. Yikes!

Source: http://eol.org/pages/601031/overview

As is turns out, this strange thing is not so bad. Eugene C. Braig, Program Director, Aquatic Ecosystems at The Ohio State University says it’s bryozoan colonies. His summary is that “freshwater bryozoans are generally harmless.  Colonies’ ability to clog the intake of equipment that needs to draw water (pumps, etc.) is probably the biggest associated concern.  If anything, freshwater bryozoans imply at least something good about water quality: as aerobic animals, they can only persist in oxygenated water; as filter feeders, they can help to improve water clarity if they occur in relatively high density.” On the other hand, he says that bryozoan colonies don’t put up much defense against being colonized by other organisms. He advises no one deliberately eat bryozoan colonies. Good advice if this crossed anyone’s mind!