Bloedel Donovan Park has
been undergoing boat inspections since April 1st of this year and they are
still continuing on. The boat inspections came about after experts found groups of
Asian clams forming in portions of Lake Whatcom. While this is the one of two major invasive aquatic species (the other being Eurasian Watermilfoil) that have
already made its way into the lake, there are still many other invasive species (pages 6-11 of this document)
the City of Bellingham are worried about. Invasive species such as fresh water
clams and crabs have already made their way into lakes in Washington, and
Bellingham is trying to keep the lake from becoming anymore contaminated. There
are at least seven other invasive species that have been exposed in other lakes
in other states, and these boat inspections are meant to keep travelling boats
from being in harmful invasive species that may have gotten caught in a part of
the boat. The list of invasive species that have been labelled as "Lake Whatcom's Most Unwanted Species List" and its nearest found location are as follows:
- Viral Hemorrhagic Septicemia (VHS) found in the Great Lakes
- New Zealand Mudsnail found in Thornton Creek, Seattle, and Olympia
- Asian Clam found in Lake Washington, Aberdeen Lake, WA, Hood Canal, Columbia River, Snake River, Chehalis River, and Willapa River
- Zebra Mussel found in Utah and California
- Quagga Mussel found in Nevada, California, Arizona, and Colorado
- Chinese Mitten Crab found in the Columbia River at Port of Ilwaco, WA
- Asian Carp found in Sunset Park Pond (in Las Vegas, Nevada) and the Mississippi River
- Hydrilla found in Lake Lucerne and Pipe Lake, WA
- Garden Loosestrife found in Lake Whatcom
- Purple Loosestrife found in Lake Whatcom
- Eurasian Watermilfoil found in Lake Whatcom
How can you help? Whatcom
Boat Inspections is following a slogan of, “Clean, Drain, Dry your boat” in
order to help promote quick and easy boat inspections. Basically, the people at the boat inspection go through a process of asking you questions about your boats whereabouts and then physically search your boat for any invasive species that may have tacked themselves onto the boat. By cleaning the boat, draining it, and allowing the boat a sufficient amount of time to dry can help make the inspection process go by faster and make things more convenient for both the boater and the inspector. They also have many more tips for boaters on which cleaners to avoid and how to properly care for your boat in order to help preserve the lake.
All information used in this blog post is sourced from Lake Whatcom's official county webpage (http://lakewhatcom.whatcomcounty.org).
