Cayuga Cayuga color

[Browning]

Has anybody noticed the odd green color of the lake. Yesterday I was driving down the west side and the lake looked way more green than I ever remembered from before. Anybody else notice this ?  Any idea why the green color ?  

[cinnamon fish]

Yes the green color is much more widespread than what usually occurs.  All due to the algae blooms.  Sewage treatment plants overwhelmed, farms, wineries, and folks lawn fertilizers running into the lake more each year as climate change gets more extreme.

[bulletbob]

 "Climate change" has nothing to do with it..  Its due to  the lakes being CHOKED with  homes, large and small, all with septics that DO leach into the lake over time, its due to farms , wineries, parks, marinas, that are wherever the homes aren't.. These lakes have been decimated by   the   encroachment of too many people, too many cows, corn fields, vineyards. all dumping organic material into the lakes by the mega ton ... bob

[stinger]

1 hour ago, bulletbob said:

 "Climate change" has nothing to do with it..  Its due to  the lakes being CHOKED with  homes, large and small, all with septics that DO leach into the lake over time, its due to farms , wineries, parks, marinas, that are wherever the homes aren't.. These lakes have been decimated by   the   encroachment of too many people, too many cows, corn fields, vineyards. all dumping organic material into the lakes by the mega ton ... bob

 

...and don't forget all the fisher(people)men that piss in the lake while fishing

[cinnamon fish]

2 hours ago, bulletbob said:

 "Climate change" has nothing to do with it..  Its due to  the lakes being CHOKED with  homes, large and small, all with septics that DO leach into the lake over time, its due to farms , wineries, parks, marinas, that are wherever the homes aren't.. These lakes have been decimated by   the   encroachment of too many people, too many cows, corn fields, vineyards. all dumping organic material into the lakes by the mega ton ... bob

You basically repeated what I stated, except you're wrong about climate change.  Climate change (in this example, more severe storms, flooding, and more consistently high humidity) makes all of these things that we both mentioned run into the lake much more often and in greater quantity.  That's why the blooms are very quickly getting more severe and more frequent.  The lakes have been loaded with people for years but the blooms haven't been this bad.

Edited August 3, 2019 by cinnamon fish

[Lewis863]

Not picking a fight to the original op no it looks about the same as last year to me...


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[cinnamon fish]

6 minutes ago, Lewis863 said:

Not picking a fight to the original op no it looks about the same as last year to me...


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Yes the last 2-3 years have been bad, before that not nearly as bad.

[Lewis863]

Ive only been up for three years lol but I notice the color change when the thermocline settles in the upper warmer waters get hit with fleas and an algae bloom hen fleas abate and the upper level stays a greenish hue....


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[Lily 2]

August of 2015 lake was simmaler in color. I'm not sure what causes it but I think it has a lot to do with a lot of different variables.

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[Lily 2]

I tried to add a picture but it doent show up. Not sure why. Seems to me looking back on a lot of photos I have August and September show the lake having the green color to it the most. I think Lewis is right about the formation of the thermal clone holding the warm water on the surface not allowing the waters to mix.

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[Sk8man]

It may sound strange but I think most of the above is true and accurate. Cayuga has in my memory always been a more eutrophic (nutrient rich) lake than say Skaneateles or even Seneca (until recently anyway). The greenish cast to the color in summer months was even there in various shades seventy years ago when my folks rented a cottage each year at the north end. There has always been various levels or concentrations of algae present but what has changed is the concentrations which can be "pooled" by wind and currents and often locate in any bays or places along the shoreline or even out deeper where the currents may not be running as strong because of the depth and lack of structure. The things that bulletbob mentioned as things affecting the lake (and all the lakes I believe) are very real and they have disturbed the natural balance and equilibrium  within these bodies of water. in many of the Finger Lakes. Recent over runs of sewage treatment plants cannot be dismissed as significant factors either.on Seneca and Cayuga or the numbers of people especially older cottages existing before the current regs emptying raw sewage into the lakes secretly against codes etc. are also part of the problem.

The higher ambient temps. of the summer months amplify things and increase the concentrations, but the increased sunlight combined with it also serves to increase photosynthesis and the things microorganisms use to grow including the plankton/zooplankton that baitfish feed on and I think this may be part of the problem on Seneca....not enough predators combined with increased algae and microorganisms expanding the baitfish population. Not all of the coloration in the water is for example blue/green algae it can be these other necessary organisms concentrated in areas and within the thermocline. Just my take on it. The big question for me is: Will these lakes naturally "reset" at some point in this process? ( and return some degree of balance to this out of control situation as it seems beyond the control of humans at present).

Edited August 4, 2019 by Sk8man

[cinnamon fish]

Thanks Les, very informative as always with your amazing posts.  In my much more limited experience, I've always been able to drive my boat out of the green water by heading up the lake a bit or just generally by moving to another area of the lake even if it's quite a ways.  This year was the first year that no matter how far I went, the color stayed green on some days out there.  It seemed the various algae was literally everywhere.  I hadn't ever seen it like that before, there was always an area to get away from it in the past for me.  I understand there are many factors.  The amount of rain and flooding the last 2-3 years has been more than we've seen in quite awhile too. 

[bulletbob]

22 minutes ago, cinnamon fish said:

Thanks Les, very informative as always with your amazing posts.  In my much more limited experience, I've always been able to drive my boat out of the green water by heading up the lake a bit or just generally by moving to another area of the lake even if it's quite a ways.  This year was the first year that no matter how far I went, the color stayed green on some days out there.  It seemed the various algae was literally everywhere.  I hadn't ever seen it like that before, there was always an area to get away from it in the past for me.  I understand there are many factors.  The amount of rain and flooding the last 2-3 years has been more than we've seen in quite awhile too. 

 Problem is, it has been a fairly normal summer.. Normal rain really, and not especially hot.. We had a run of about 3 hotter than normal days, otherwise, pretty standard.. I was out on Skinny the other day, and it  is no longer a clear clean looking lake.. the water was skungy looking,    clarity pretty poor, and the lake which  had NO weeds  15 years ago, now has nasty, brown slimy looking stuff everywhere..  The lake is now nothing but homes, and HUGE farms,, Cornfields totally encircle the lake now, and you can watch the cattle graze on the hillsides in some areas while you fish...  I am sick over it... Everyone wants a piece of the lake.. Well we got what we wanted, and these gorgeous glacial lakes are paying a very stiff price... bob

[cinnamon fish]

47 minutes ago, bulletbob said:

 Problem is, it has been a fairly normal summer.. Normal rain really, and not especially hot.. We had a run of about 3 hotter than normal days, otherwise, pretty standard.. I was out on Skinny the other day, and it  is no longer a clear clean looking lake.. the water was skungy looking,    clarity pretty poor, and the lake which  had NO weeds  15 years ago, now has nasty, brown slimy looking stuff everywhere..  The lake is now nothing but homes, and HUGE farms,, Cornfields totally encircle the lake now, and you can watch the cattle graze on the hillsides in some areas while you fish...  I am sick over it... Everyone wants a piece of the lake.. Well we got what we wanted, and these gorgeous glacial lakes are paying a very stiff price... bob

 

It wasn't a normal spring though, much more rain than normal and the bulk of the rain came in May and early June instead of April.  That leads to what we get the first half of summer.

Edited August 4, 2019 by cinnamon fish

[bulletbob]

 I won't argue, we will just have to agree to disagree.. You are free to  blame global warming, and  I'll blame the  hundreds of thousands of tons of  cow  manure and   massive amounts of other organics that find their way into the finger lakes each year... bob

Edited August 5, 2019 by bulletbob

[Sk8man]

I think you are both right. It is not a single factor issue (many things involved)

[cinnamon fish]

6 hours ago, bulletbob said:

 I won't argue, we will just have to agree to disagree.. You are free to  blame global warming, and  I'll blame the  hundreds of thousands of tons of  cow  manure and   massive amounts of other organics that find their way into the finger lakes each year... bob

 

Not looking to argue either. I agree with you and I’m just adding that climate change is in a large part causing “the hundreds of thousands of tons of cow manure and massive amounts of other organics that find their way into the finger lakes” to enter the lake at a faster rate than has ever been seen before.  And the higher humidity, rain and heat cause more of it to become various types of algae.  No problem disagreeing.  Good to discuss.

Edited August 5, 2019 by cinnamon fish

[EarlyRiser]

I've fished or at least boated on the southern half of Cayuga nearly every summer weekend of the last 10 years. Yesterday (Sunday) and two weeks ago were the craziest "glowing green slime" color that I've ever seen out there. Bright sun, strong winds out of the north or south, and temps of 79-80 degrees at the surface were the common traits of the two occasions I witnessed it. I was at Taughannock yesterday and the water color was fine in the morning, then it took on that bright green color once sun got high in the sky and the north wind really got rolling in the late morning/early afternoon. Water clarity didn't seem to be as low as I've seen it some days, but wow, that glowing green color makes it look like toxic waste. It's related to the bright sun and the algae and it hasn't been concentrated enough to close the beaches either day, but still pretty freaky looking.

 

Edited August 5, 2019 by EarlyRiser

[stinger]

A little more serious post from the one I made above on Sunday. For those that are serious about the lakes we fish in and the land we hunt on you might want to consider this.

 

https://www.dec.ny.gov/permits/47452.html

 

Five bucks isn't going to break anyone of us. This doesn't guarantee that anything will get cleaned up or reverse present lake conditions but that $5.00 may help.

[rustyrat]

Lake gets green every summer.  I live there year round.  

[sstout]

Do you think the green poses any threat to keeping fish from it? Other than looking around and making sure your not in a copious amount of algae or anything. 

[Fishstix]

I hope this picture comes out.This is what the green water looks like. Does not seem to effect fishing at all.

Ive seen it in years past also.

[Absolut40]

26 minutes ago, Fishstix said:

I hope this picture comes out.This is what the green water looks like. Does not seem to effect fishing at all.

Ive seen it in years past also.

Beautiful Boat!!!!!

[sammygee]

SK8MAN....  I don't know why your head doesn't explode, storing all this Finger Lake and Lake O knowledge.  You are truly a wealth of knowledge, and someone I always look to for info.  Thanx for all you do !!!

[Sk8man]

Aw thanks Sammy Hey nice boat you have there I was next to you coming in the channel at Sodus last Friday. I didn't even have to put on glasses to read the name

Edited August 7, 2019 by Sk8man