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The Lake Dinosaur

Everyone knows about Nessie, the lake monster of legend purported to inhabit Loch Ness, a lake in Scotland with a topography similar to Loughborough Lake. Over the many decades of sightings, various explanations have been put forth regarding the origin of this mysterious lake monster. The most popular, no doubt, is that Nessie is one of the last remaining Plesiosaurus, a lake dinosaur that was presumed extinct over 66 million years ago.

Everyone knows about Nessie, the lake monster of legend purported to inhabit Loch Ness, a lake in Scotland with a topography similar to Loughborough Lake. Over the many decades of sightings, various explanations have been put forth regarding the origin of this mysterious lake monster. The most popular, no doubt, is that Nessie is one of the last remaining Plesiosaurus, a lake dinosaur that was presumed extinct over 66 million years ago.

Nessie is not the only lake dinosaur of yore. Canada has its own monsters, most notoriously Ogopogo, a lake dinosaur first sighted by First Nations in Lake Okanagan in the 1900s. Ogopogo went on to prominently feature on a Canadian postage stamp, as its legend continues to live on. One is of course at liberty to think what one may about myths on surviving dinosaurs and lake monsters. However, about 10 years ago, it was established as scientific fact that dinosaurs, indeed, never went extinct. In fact, scores of lake-dwelling dinosaurs inhabit our very Loughborough, many of them living off of its rich spoils of fish. I am speaking of course of the class of dinosaurs known as Avialae, otherwise known as birds.

The Loon is, in fact, a great example of what I call a modern lake dinosaur. Like the Plesiosaurus, the dinosaur ancestors of Loons - Therapods such as the raptors that wreaked havoc in Jurassic Park - were presumed to have gone extinct some 66 million years ago during an asteroid impact that marked the end of the Cretaceous period. However, it has become apparent that not all dinosaurs were equally affected by this cataclysmic event. Some smaller, feathered Therapods managed to escape the ensuing firestorms and subsequent changes in climate by taking to their wings.

In 2005, it was first reported in the journal Science that proteins sequenced in collagens taken from Tyrannosaurus Rex bone fragments - a Therapod - are nearly identical to those in chicken bones. This means T. Rex likely tasted more like chicken than an Alligator does. Like chickens, Therapods were two-legged, laid eggs and likely brooded their nests. Baby Therapods likely wore down feathers to keep themselves warm. Early winged Therapods featured ultra-light hollow bones that kept them aloft. These dinosaurs were most certainly capable of flight, but were likely not as agile as today's more highly evolved dinosaur raptors, like the Bald Eagles on our lake. The flight of early Avialae probably resembled that of a flying squirrel, swiftly gliding from tree to tree to stay out of reach of predators.

Scientific evidence is now so overwhelming, that we must simply accept that birds are the dinosaurs that did not (yet) go extinct. Feathers, in particular, form a strong line of evidence for this hypothesis. Long before Avialae developed flight, dinosaurs wore pennaceous feathers to stay warm and to impress other dinosaurs with a dazzling array of colours. Most feathers mix colours using pigments that absorb light in all wavelengths but a few. But some evolved in a much more spectacular fashion, developing a reflection known as iridescence. These feathers amplify light not unlike a laser, via quantum interference.

You can see this interference effect in a gas spill on the surface of the lake: light waves reflecting off of the bottom of the thin layer have to travel further than light waves reflecting off of the top of the spill. Like tuning a guitar, when light waves combine at the surface they either synchronize and amplify, or cancel each other out. This effect relies on two things: the distance traveled by the light wave and the size of its wavelength, or in other words, the angle and colour of the light. This is why oil slicks and soap bubbles develop the most delightful rainbow patterns, rapidly shifting colour with even the slightest change in perspective.

Robert Hooke was the first to document this kind of colourization in feathers in his 1665 book Micrographia, noting that unlike oil, feathers lose their iridescence when submerged in water. We now know this is because such feathers employ tiny keratin structures that look like wood stacks with small air gaps. Each gap provides an additional reflection that amplifies only a wavelength that fits. Filling the air gaps with water extinguishes those reflections, rendering the feathers without colour entirely. Unlike the layers in a gas spill, the layers in feathers are arranged in two dimensions, such that a change in angle does not dramatically alter the distance that light has to travel. This narrows the rainbow effect to only a minor shift in hue that, if anything, produces a more vibrant display when the feathers are moved.

Blue feathers, in particular, excel in reflecting only a narrow band of colours. This is because when seen from an angle, their iridescence shifts into wavelengths that are too short for the human eye to perceive. One dinosaur on our lake that demonstrates this effect is the entirely unassuming Barn Swallow, which can be found nesting in local barns, or underneath Perth Road bridge in summer. Their backs, in fact, do not appear to radiate at all and cast but a dark blue shimmer. However, this is deceiving, as their peak iridescence lies in the ultraviolet wavelengths. Dinosaurs evolved a fourth colour cone in their retina that allows them to see this spectrum of colours. In their eyes, swallows produce the most spectacular display of violets imaginable. Our lake dinosaurs use these mesmerizing but, to us, invisible reflections to impress their partners. They show off the health of their genes by advertising their nanoscale perfection.

Clearly, we need to accept that there is a lot more to nature than meets our eye. Dinosaurs may not have become extinct just yet, but they rely, as much as any creature, on an intricate web of intangibles. These being invisible does not imply they do not also require our protection. Maintaining the gaps between the planks of an old wooden barn - allowing swallows to enter and breed there - is just as important to the swallow as it preening the gaps that make its feathers shine. By extension, it is only through gaps in our knowledge that we drive these lake dinosaurs back into extinction. If only we could see.

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Loughborough Wilderness Update

In 2018 and early 2019, the Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC) added some 255 acres to the Loughborough Wilderness Reserve. This includes the 161-acre Bill Koen Estate property on North Shore Road, which includes a large area of the Loughborough Lake maple swamp, 80 acres on Ramparts Road on the south side of the lake and a donation of shoreline near the mouth of Fishing Lake Creek by Joe and Beth Pater. These additions, which bring the size of NCC’s protected area to over 4,000 acres, were made possible by the generous support of many contributors from the community including individuals from the Battersea Loughborough Lake Association.

In 2018 and early 2019, the Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC) added some 255 acres to the Loughborough Wilderness Reserve. This includes the 161-acre Bill Koen Estate property on North Shore Road, which includes a large area of the Loughborough Lake maple swamp, 80 acres on Ramparts Road on the south side of the lake and a donation of shoreline near the mouth of Fishing Lake Creek by Joe and Beth Pater. These additions, which bring the size of NCC’s protected area to over 4,000 acres, were made possible by the generous support of many contributors from the community including individuals from the Battersea Loughborough Lake Association.

Loughborough Lake is at the heart of the Frontenac Arch, an extension of the Canadian Shield granite connecting Algonquin Park in the north to Adirondack Park in New York State to the south. This is one of the most important ecological connections in North America and one of the most biologically diverse places in Ontario. The Arch provides a vital migratory linkage for birds and other species, including bats, butterflies and wide-ranging mammals. NCC is committed to protecting a collection of properties to ensure this landscape continues to support migratory species in the future.

The coming year promises to be our biggest effort yet. We will be tackling a variety of projects that will add almost a thousand acres to the Loughborough Wilderness Reserve! As is so often the case with acquisitions like this, we have been working on most of these projects for many years and they are just now coming to fruition. In addition to these properties, NCC is also acquiring almost 2,000 acres of land on Benson Lake and Mississagua Creek. These acquisitions will include approximately 1,000 acres of land being donated by three separate landowners. Combined, these new projects will increase the area of protected lands on the Frontenac Arch by almost 2%, helping Canada in its commitment to protect 17% of terrestrial areas and inland waters nationwide through networks of protected areas and other conservation measures by 2020.

Gifts of money or of land to Nature Conservancy of Canada are considered a charitable donation and qualify for a tax deduction. If you are interested in supporting this work or would like more information on NCC’s work at Loughborough Lake you may contact Gary Bell at (613) 862-3331 or at gary.bell@natureconservancy.ca

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Spring 2019 Newsletter

NEWSLETTER

Welcome to spring (we hope it’s really here when you get this) from the BLLA Board. If you have your Fall newsletter handy and compare the listings on page 2, you will see we have a new President, Evonne Potts, and a new Director, Heather Gregg. However, Nada Beamish and Joe Pater will be stepping down after the AGM. We appreciate their years of service to the Association and to this newsletter. As the “Come on Down” announcement later in the newsletter says, volunteers to sit on the Board are definitely welcome.

NEWSLETTER

Welcome to spring (we hope it’s really here when you get this) from the BLLA Board. If you have your Fall newsletter handy and compare the listings on page 2, you will see we have a new President, Evonne Potts, and a new Director, Heather Gregg. However, Nada Beamish and Joe Pater will be stepping down after the AGM. We appreciate their years of service to the Association and to this newsletter. As the “Come on Down” announcement later in the newsletter says, volunteers to sit on the Board are definitely welcome.

We hope you find the announcements and articles in this newsletter useful and interesting. We are already stockpiling articles for Fall and thinking about new ways to communicate with Lake Association members and the public (see Get Connected! page 3). Encouraged by the success of our recent survey, we will be reaching out again to get your ideas on what role a newsletter of this type should play in the future.

Happy summer! – Your BLLA Board

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Lake Trout Sensitive to Oxygen Levels in Loughborough Lake

Lake Trout is a rare species in Ontario and that means Lake Trout lakes are rare as well. Only about one percent of Ontario’s lakes contain Lake Trout, and this represents 20-25% of all Lake Trout lakes in the world (1). Loughborough Lake is lucky to have a healthy, naturally producing population in its West Basin. It is also stocked every year with cultured fingerlings through efforts of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry, assisted side-by -side with members of our Lake Association. 

Lake Trout is a rare species in Ontario and that means Lake Trout lakes are rare as well. Only about one percent of Ontario’s lakes contain Lake Trout, and this represents 20-25% of all Lake Trout lakes in the world (1). Loughborough Lake is lucky to have a healthy, naturally producing population in its West Basin. It is also stocked every year with cultured fingerlings through efforts of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry, assisted side-by -side with members of our Lake Association. 

As a species, Lake Trout are very sensitive to environmental change. Changes in climate, temperature of the lake and the levels of nutrients, such as phosphorus run-off from agricultural and lawn fertilizers, dishwashers and septic fields surrounding the lake, may affect this species. This is because high levels of nutrients lead to algae growths that use up the available oxygen in the water. Lake Trout need about 6-7 mg of oxygen per litre of water to remain healthy and reproduce. Unhealthy habitat with algae blooms can be found just south of us in Dog Lake. While Dog Lake is too shallow to have Lake Trout, we need to avoid this kind of contamination in our lake to maintain healthy levels of fish stock. Shoreline development and agricultural practices are important determining factors in this delicate equation. 

To find out the historical levels of oxygen in Loughborough Lake for comparison with present-day levels, a recent undergraduate thesis by Hillary Quinn-Austin examined the oxygenation of Loughborough Lake over the past 200 years (2). From a core taken by researchers from the lake bottom at 38 metres, the deepest point of the West Basin, Quinn-Austin counted deposits of Lake Fly larvae exoskeletons in the lake’s sediments. These are the parts of the larvae that are shed when they emerge as flies. From those exoskeletons, Quinn-Austin then isolated samples of the Lake Fly larvae heads and mandibles, identifying specific species in the process. Counting the number of larvae heads per volume of sediment of a particular species provides an indication of the level of oxygenation of the lake at the time the larvae metamorphosed into a Lake Fly. The study also determined the amount of chlorophyll in the lake sediments through spectroscopy as an indication of algae production. 

Findings suggest Lake Flies of the genus Micropsectra (Midges) dominate the count. The high counts for this species indicate that oxygen levels have been relatively stable and high over the past 200 years, at between 6-7 mg of oxygen per litre of water. Because oxygen levels are negatively affected by nutrients from run-off and erosion, the presence of a healthy forest surrounding the lake is important. During periods of clear-cutting, especially in the mid-1800s, lake oxygen levels appeared to decline for a few decades. However, oxygen levels bounced back in the 1900s, enough to support a healthy population of Lake Trout. Between 1987 and 2009, there is evidence of a reduction in oxygen levels in the West Basin, a worrying finding that may, in time, put the population of Lake Trout at risk again. 

One of the causes of the decline of Lake Trout is the continued environmental pressures provided by development surrounding the lake. Impact from human activities such as leaching septic beds, increased fertilizer run-off, removal of trees, and clearing shorelines all negatively affect the delicate balance of oxygen in the water. 

To maintain our population of Lake Trout, Loughborough Lake’s West Basin has been identified as a “Highly Sensitive Trout Lake” and is considered to be “at capacity” for development due to concerns that additional nutrient loads may adversely affect water quality (3). It is only through awareness of the critical role humans play in affecting water quality, evidence-based development practices, and careful monitoring of scientific data that we can ensure Loughborough Lake remains a healthy habitat for Lake Trout and other environmentally sensitive species. 

References

1. Government of Ontario, Lake Trout Management for inland lakes, 2015. 

2. Hillary Quinn-Austin. A chironomid-inferred paleolimnological reconstruction of past hypolimnetic oxygen concentrations in Loughborough Lake, Ontario: Implications for the local Lake Trout habitat. Queen’s University, April 2017. 

3. South Frontenac Township’s Official Plan, Highly Sensitive Trout Lakes, Section 5.2.8a, March 2003.

 

 

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Please Help Us Get Informed and Fill out the Survey!

The Battersea Loughborough Lake Association (BLLA) has prepared a short survey to gather feedback from you, our members and residents of the lake to learn about lake-related priorities and how the board can best fulfill its mandate to preserve and protect the area.

You can find the online survey here, and appreciate your time and effort!

The Battersea Loughborough Lake Association (BLLA) has prepared a short survey to gather feedback from you, our members and residents of the lake to learn about lake-related priorities and how the board can best fulfill its mandate to preserve and protect the area.

You can find the online survey here, and appreciate your time and effort!

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Endangered Species Act Review Could Gut Wildlife Protections

An urgent message from the David Suzuki Foundation: “The Government of Ontario has set its sights on “improving” Ontario’s Endangered Species Act, posting a discussion paper on the Environmental Registry. However, the paper makes it clear that the province’s primary objective in revisiting the act is not to ensure efficient recovery for Ontario’s at-risk species but, rather, to find even more efficiencies for industries that want to operate where these animals and plants live.”

To help the many endangered species on our lake, please sign the Suzuki Foundation’s petition and the Ontario Nature petition and let your voice be heard.

From the David Suzuki Foundation website: “The Government of Ontario has set its sights on “improving” Ontario’s Endangered Species Act, posting a discussion paper on the Environmental Registry. However, the paper makes it clear that the province’s primary objective in revisiting the act is not to ensure efficient recovery for Ontario’s at-risk species but, rather, to find even more efficiencies for industries that want to operate where these animals and plants live.

The primary cause of wildlife decline in Ontario (and nationally, and globally) is habitat loss and degradation, for which limits need to be set, not greater efficiencies created. In 2013, the province passed an amendment that exempts a broad suite of industrial and development activities from the rules against harming endangered and threatened species and their habitats. In other words, the ESA is already failing to effectively safeguard the habitat wildlife needs to survive. We need to ensure that the province upholds a piece of legislation intended to change business-as-usual activities that drive wildlife decline, not pave the way for them.”

To help the many endangered species on our lake, please sign the Suzuki Foundation’s petition and the Ontario Nature petition and let your voice be heard.

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Deer in Winter

It is bitter cold out in the Loughborough Wilderness in mid-winter. Deer are roaming outside their normal confines of the woods to get their hoofs on the last remaining patches of grass and roughage from last season, buried deep under the snow. They pillage the juniper bushes on the islands and lakeshore at night for a few remaining leafs, reducing some to stalks that will regenerate in spring.

It is bitter cold out in the Loughborough Wilderness in mid-winter. Deer are roaming outside their normal confines of the woods to get their hoofs on the last remaining patches of grass and roughage from last season, buried deep under the snow. They pillage the juniper bushes on the islands and lakeshore at night for a few remaining leafs, reducing some to stalks that will regenerate in spring. This is a dangerous time for the deer as they grow weaker and weaker, while their predators, which include wolves, cougars (reportedly) and coyotes in this area, are growing more hungry. Fortunately for them, their main predator, humans, are not allowed to hunt until next fall. If you do decide to help the deer out a little by feeding them, do take care to make your feed as woody and fibrous as their current diet: Their stomachs may not adjust to overly nutritious food sources at this time of year.

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FOCA Membership Benefits to all our members

FOCA is the province-wide umbrella group for Ontario waterfront property owners, representing 50,000 member families in more than 500 lake and road associations.

Through the BLLA, FOCA offers the following offers & discounts to our members.

FOCA is the province-wide umbrella group for Ontario waterfront property owners, representing 50,000 member families in more than 500 lake and road associations.

Through the BLLA, FOCA offers discounts to our members. For login information please see their brochure.

CottageFirst—Get access to great coverage on your cottage, home, car & more. Exclusive to FOCA member families, via Cade Associates Insurance Brokers. Get your quote: 1-844-CADE-1ST

Coleman Canada—30% discount when you shop online and use the Code SAFEBOAT (all caps) at checkout!

Action First Aid—Get a FOCA discount of 18% off on a Philips Home Defibrillator, now $1,365 (+tax). Contact jon@actionfirstaid.ca

Audability Communications—Get a special offer: teleconference for only 2.5¢ a minute per participant. You must mention FOCA when you call 1-877-283-2253 or email sales@audability.com.

DockinaBox—Remember to ask for your 10% FOCA discount on a dock frame system OR a boat lift. See terms & conditions online.

InvisiRail—Claim a 7.5% FOCA discount on their glass rail systems for your home or cottage, using Code: FOCA7.5

Canadian Canoe Museum—Claim a one-time FREE 1-year Individual Membership to the Museum! ($40 value). Quote code: FOCA12 by phone 1-866-342-2663, or at the door, or by email: info@canoemuseum.ca

Cottage Life Magazine—Special discount on new subscriptions OR renewals: pay only $24.95 (for 1 year + 1 bonus issue; includes free digital access + Bonus calendar). Order online: www.cottagelife.com/foca

For more information, please see our brochure.

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