Great Lakes Now

- [Narrator] Coming up by the "Great Lakes Now", what's happening beneath the ice?

- We are going to go diving under the ice and collecting algae samples.

- [Narrator] A team of researchers and divers are working to find out.

And what to do about an invasive pest poised to wreak havoc on our trees?

- [Dave] Look at that, piercing proboscis there.

They suck all that sugary, energy-rich sap from the leaves.

(air whooshing) (upbeat music) - [Narrator] This program is brought to you by Richard C. Devereaux Foundation for Energy and Environmental Programs at Detroit PBS, Polk Family Fund, DTE Foundation, and contributions to "Great Lakes Now" from viewers like you.

Thank you.

(air whooshing) - Welcome to "Great Lakes Now".

I'm Rob Green.

We're starting this show with the first installment of a three-part story.

Each part is an excerpt from a documentary called "Under the Ice", which is about scientists and divers, who are racing to understand how our lakes work in wintertime because winter is changing.

(air whooshing) The research took place in Kenora, Ontario on Lake of the Woods, where Ontario, Manitoba and Minnesota come together.

(air whooshing) (wind blowing) (ice cracking) (drilling machine whirring) (water bubbling) (indistinct chatter) - [Producer] There he is.

- The cameras are rolling as soon as we start.

I'm just Dale, yeah.

I'm retired.

Formerly, I spent 20 years of my life in a maximum security prison system working with special teams.

- [Producer] Tell me about what you really do.

- I like diving.

(Dale giggles) Yeah, I like diving a lot.

I started diving in 1971.

I'd always loved the water and been around the water.

So, I actually got into water with scuba gear.

It was just the most amazing experience for me.

I was able to go underwater, stay underwater.

And I got to look at crayfish and rocks and eventually got to go and look at shipwrecks and things like that.

And it just fascinated me.

(bright music) - My name is Andrew.

I'm a photographer, filmmaker, diver and the expedition lead for this project.

I'm a journalist by trade, news, documentary, all of that stuff.

But I got really, really tired of being in the newsroom.

So, I've taken what I do outside and under ice.

(wheels screeching) (bright music) I love being out here, I love doing this.

I love working on expeditions, I love leading expeditions.

I love bringing people together that have different, unique backgrounds and pulling them together for a project like this to do something incredible.

- I'm Andy Bramberger.

I'm a research scientist with Environment and Climate Change Canada.

And I study everything in the water from little stuff to big stuff, but mostly little stuff.

Well, I love lakes.

I've loved water since I was a kid.

I still love water, it's not even just lakes, I love water.

(dog whining) Do you want to do science?

(dog whining) I want to understand it too.

It's a really good puzzle.

- [Dale] I'm here for a (indistinct), it's all good.

- How was the flight?

- We like being outside, we like exploring, we like adventure.

We like figuring things out.

And we love lakes and we're interested in what happens to them in the winter.

(wind blowing) - Kenora winters are awesome and they're intense and they're harsh, cold, snow, ice.

That's what we wanted for this expedition.

We needed those conditions to pull off what we're trying to do.

We needed ice.

We needed a guarantee of ice that we could dive under.

- Lake of the Woods and the Great Lakes and a lot of the lakes around this part of Canada were formed at the end of the last ice age by glacial scour.

And so, you think about it, we're up here quite a ways, but there is a lot of Canada above us.

And in Canada, lakes that are bigger than two hectares, we've got two million of them, more than two million of them, a lot of lakes.

Most of those lakes for their entire existence, have been frozen for five, six months of the year.

So, you think half of the existence of all the lakes, two million lakes in Canada, they've been frozen.

Whatever is adapted to living under that ice, could be very, very important.

If you take lake ice away from a lake that's always had lake ice, what happens to the food webs?

What happens to the lake itself?

We really don't know what happens to the biology underneath.

Algae really shortly are like tiny plants that live in water.

And there are algae in just about every water that hasn't been through a processing plant of some type, a puddle on your road, in your swimming pool, in lakes, streams, ponds, rivers, oceans.

And they can also range in size.

The smallest things that we kind of dump into that category of algae, like a couple thousandths of a millimeter.

And then the biggest algae at the other end are the giant kelps, the tree-size things that you see out along the coast of British Columbia.

(bright music) So, algae, it's a primary producer.

So, they use the energy from the sun to basically take carbon dioxide out of the water and turn it into sugar that they can use to basically fuel their existence.

So, for us, they're very, very important.

Because when they take in carbon dioxide and photosynthesize, they breathe out essentially oxygen.

(bright music) If you take one deep breath and then take another deep breath, one of those two breaths is the result of algae.

We talk about the Amazon rainforest being the lungs of the world, but it pales in comparison to the algae of the lakes and oceans and rivers.

They're also very important for aquatic food webs.

That's, again, it's the point where that sun's energy becomes entrained into something that can be eaten by larger and larger and longer and longer lived organisms.

So, if you don't have algae at the base of your food web, chances are you don't have much of a food web.

(bright music) It's interesting when you think about it, we spent a lot of time and money, researching and conserving whales.

And nobody really cares when you get down to the bottom of the food web.

But if all the whales of the world disappeared tomorrow, most of the rest of the food web wouldn't be that heavily affected.

If all the algae of the world disappeared tomorrow, everything would be dead, including us.

(brooding music) - This is extreme citizen science.

We are doing extreme citizen science.

The nuts and bolts of this project are that we are going to go diving under the ice and collecting algae samples.

- Trying to help scientists understand global warming through algae sampling from under ice and something that's never been attempted before, let alone successfully achieved.

- The thing that's really new here is attempting to get samples from the ice bottom in a way that they're intact, in a way that we're not rolling them over and hoping that we get the best.

It's the first attempt to really do this in a way that we're being very precise and very meticulous.

The best that we can do and that's where having divers be able to do this is so important.

Because it allows us to get a clean sample, it allows us to get a sample from a known surface area and from water that we know is immediately under the ice.

And really, there's no other way to reliably do that.

So, diving is a big help.

This is kind of old-school.

Limnologists have been using these to study light penetration in lakes for years.

And there are actually citizen science efforts that are coordinated to have everyone go and stick a Secchi disk in a lake and give back the number.

And so, it's just black and white for contrast, so that you can see it.

When we record Secchi disk depth, you have to remember that the light's passing through the water, reflecting off the disc and then coming back through the water to your eye.

So, Secchi disk depth is about half of how far light can penetrate through the water.

So, for you guys, when you're diving, the Secchi disk depth is about half of what your horizontal visibility would be.

So, this rope, we've got the double lines are meters, so that's three meters there.

- [Andrew] Is that the bottom?

- [Andy] Not quite yet.

- [Dale] Oh.

- [Andy] You can still see it.

- [Dale] I can see it, yeah.

- Look at that!

- The bottom.

- Oh, good!

- [Dale] 13 meters, so 26 to 30 foot of horizontal visibility.

- [Andy] Yeah, vertical, so- - So, we're not going to be pawing around.

Dale, we'll be able to see.

Almost two years ago, I called Andy.

It was like, it was a total cold call.

I asked him, I just said, "Hey man, like what's new in your world, like what's the thing in limnology?

What's the thing in lakes right now?"

- I brought up the though of the lakes are losing ice.

We're losing winter.

We have no idea what that means.

It's hard to access anything underneath the ice.

- I just sort of blurted out.

I said, "What if I got a team of ice divers together and we went and got samples for you?"

- I was very amused by the thought of divers, because I know it's a dangerous thing.

I know how difficult it is.

It was kind of a, "Yeah, sure, you're going to do that."

(Andy laughs) (suspenseful music) - [Andrew] We worked for quite a while, figuring out how to do this.

- [Andy] So, this is the actual one.

- [Andrew] Andy came up with this domed contraption that eventually morphed to like squares.

So, we'd be in his lab testing these things.

That's not going to come in from spinning.

(drilling machine whirring) I just cracked your dome.

- [Andy] I think I got another dome.

- [Andrew] Oh, I stripped the- - [Andy] It busted right off.

Hey, that kind of worked!

- Look at that!

It is blustery out there.

(dramatic music) Last winter, we took these contraptions out and we were trying to figure out this technology, trying to figure out these domes, trying to figure out if things could work.

- We're not sure what the likelihood is it will be successful, but we're going to give it a try.

(bright music) - [Andy] Winter's difficult.

It's a challenging season.

It's hard to access anything underneath the ice.

As we look around, we're starting to see that lakes aren't so ice-covered in the winter.

We're starting to wonder what is it that we're going to be losing?

How important is that season to the overall annual function of a lake?

- We managed to eke out a couple of dives to test this technology.

It worked.

It wasn't perfect, but the technology worked.

We proved that we could get samples.

- We know from the samples last year, there's a lot of material.

There's a lot of DNA there.

There are a lot of different organisms living on the ice bottom.

But knowing that there is stuff living there that we can sample means that the sky's the limit for the questions that we can ask.

- Yep, pretty nice ice.

It's never nice to start an expedition like this with bad news, but the weather is not our friend.

It's getting warm, like really warm.

- Peak ice on Lake of the Woods is usually mid-February.

We're- - [Andrew] Just a little- - We should be right around peak while we're here.

- So, you're at, so last year, you were looking at about this?

- [Andy] Yeah.

- [Andrew] And then this year- - [Dale] Cutting through twice what we've got here.

- As you know, this is an El Nino year.

So, we typically have warmer winters in El Nino years.

But if we look around the Great Lakes, we're in another, if not record, near-record-low ice year.

So, we'd originally talked about doing this on the Great Lakes and now we just can't find enough ice source, safe ice on the Great Lakes to do this kind of work.

- I mean, throughout the week, we're not making ice, or the next couple of days, it's like we're not going- - No, we're losing ice.

- We're losing ice.

- We're supposed to be above freezing tonight.

Our overnight low tonight's going to be one, which is strange for here.

It's sort of a microcosm of the situation everywhere, right?

We're running out of time to work with ice.

And if this year is any indication, we may not have too many more kicks of the can to do this kind of work in temperate lakes in this part of the world.

- [Dale] We're walking out on the ice to fog.

- Because if we get a couple, a day or two more of this, it's going to be miserable.

We've got a lot of dives to do, we've got a lot of samples to get.

Time is not at all on our side, not our friend.

The weather is not our friend.

And we're going to start cutting here and try to get as much as we can done, so we can get in the water in good time tomorrow.

- [Dale] It was really important that we achieve our goals to get what we came to get.

We really need these samples.

We need to know what this looks like.

And so, pretty big stimulus to push through to get what we came to get.

(bright music) (air whooshing) - We'll bring you part two of this story in our next episode.

If you want to be reminded, sign up for our newsletter at greatlakesnow.org/newsletter.

(air whooshing) If you've heard of the spotted lanternfly, it was probably when someone told you that if you see one, you should smash it immediately.

The invasive bug is spreading across our region, posing a threat to fruit trees, grapevines and more.

But we are finding ways to fight this new invader.

From partner station WXXI in Rochester, New York, producer Katie Epner brings us the story.

(air whooshing) - [Katie Epner] We're in the woods in the Finger Lakes region of New York and we're here to check some traps.

- I fabricated some inverted cones to catch the falling dead lanternflies.

If we take a look at this one over here, I can open it up.

- [Katie Epner] Dave Rutherford is a biologist for the New York Parks Department.

Today, he's in Watkins Glen State Park, about 65 miles south of Lake Ontario, to battle against the spotted lanternfly before it can overrun the area.

(gentle music) - Now, let's see if we can see his, oh yeah, his piercing mouth parts.

It's like a beak.

Look at that, I have kind of piercing proboscis there.

- [Katie Epner] That's the weapon, the spotted lanternfly uses to do its damage.

- The spotted lanternfly are currently feeding.

(gentle music) And I don't know what kind of definition you got on that, but I think you can get the proboscis going into the tree.

So, they suck all that sugary, energy-rich sap that's coming down from the leaves.

- [Katie Epner] Native to Asia, the spotted lanternfly likely arrived with goods shipped to the US from overseas.

They were first detected in Pennsylvania in 2014.

These flies don't fly very far, because they are not technically flies, but rather plant hoppers closely related to cicadas.

(Dave smacks the tree trunk) - I don't think I got any!

- [Brian] I missed that one.

- [Dave] I missed, yeah.

- [Brian] I can't believe how fast those suckers are.

- [Dave] No, they move, they can jump pretty quick.

- [Katie Epner] The bugs are good at latching onto all sorts of surfaces and hitching a ride, thus earning the nickname Hitchhiker Bug.

- Oh, it got away!

Into cars, onto trailers, and just grip on with their little feet there and just go from place to place, hop off and start feeding again.

- [Katie Epner] According to the USDA, the lanternflies have now spread to 19 states, including six of the eight Great Lakes states.

They've also been found in Ontario.

They feed on a wide range of plants, including grapevines, hops, stone fruit trees and hardwood trees.

But their victim of choice is called Ailanthus, or tree of heaven, which is also an invasive species.

- The Ailanthus tree was actually brought to the United States in 1784 as an exotic landscaping tree.

It was planted in cities and parks, because of its ability to grow in low-quality soils, grow rapidly to provide shade and is pretty pollution-tolerant.

- [Katie Epner] This picture was taken in St.

Louis in 1866.

This is an Ailanthus tree and so are these.

These days, the trees are everywhere and they're considered an invasive nuisance.

Tree of heaven spreads rapidly and aggressively.

It secretes a chemical into the soil that is toxic to surrounding plants and of course, it's a food supply for the spotted lanternfly.

(brooding music) - So, this is like a tree of heaven here.

There's another guy here.

And this is all probably from this lovely guy right here.

- [Katie Epner] Both the trees and the lanternflies create real problems.

And at Watkins Glen State Park, restoration ecologist Brian Richardson has been contracted to exploit the connection between the bugs and their host, to build a trap.

It starts with, well, killing a lot of trees.

- All we need to do is break that cambium layer, kind of continue.

We're going to come for the most crucial part.

We're going to apply the herbicide to it.

- [Katie Epner] Work started in 2025, when workers treated most of the Ailanthus trees in the park with herbicide.

- So, all we're doing is just putting a little bit in there.

And now, as you can see, the herbicide's coming out, so, I actually put too much in, but this is kind of the methodology.

We're going to come to all those hack marks and we're going to put a little herbicide in there.

And on this side over here, hit it again.

Come around here.

- [Katie Epner] When dealing with Ailanthus, the herbicide is a necessity.

Just cutting the trees down, can end up making the problem worse.

- Ailanthus has these deep tap roots that make digging them out nearly impossible.

But the bigger thing that we run into, is if the tree is damaged and cut down and then not herbicided up to 50 feet away, the shallow lateral roots will send up suckers, creating dozens and dozens more Ailanthus.

- [Katie Epner] By summer of 2026, only about a dozen Ailanthus remained untreated in the park.

That's when phase two of the project began.

These Ailanthus trees were left alive on purpose to act as bait in a deadly trap.

To the lanternflies, the trees just look like a delicious meal, but these trees have been treated with a different poison, a systemic insecticide.

- Goes through the whole tree, and when spotted lanternfly come, pierce the tree with their sucking mouth parts, they pretty soon after die and fall to the ground.

- [Katie Epner] Another problem with spotted lanternflies, honeydew, which is a pretty-sounding name for lanternfly poop.

- And if you can see these streaks here, this liquid coming down, we are going to see a lot of that where the lanternflies are, either the tree weeping from where it pierced and started to suck out the sap from the Ailanthus, or further up and you'll get honeydew dripping down as a waste excretion from the lanternfly.

And that's what causes a lot of the problems.

- [Katie Epner] Honeydew can promote the growth of black sooty mold that also harms trees and plants, especially black walnut and maple.

Meanwhile, about 60 miles north at the Song Hill Winery in Victor, New York, owner and winemaker Conor Gallagher is keenly aware of the threat to the industry.

- So, Song Hill Winery, we're a small family operation.

We produce about 500 cases, mostly dry and sparkling wine.

- [Katie Epner] So far, there's no sign of the spotted lanternfly at Song Hill.

This year's crop is looking and tasting good.

(bright music) - Hmm.

Just the texture is just right.

I mean, it's thin skin, but it's still crisp.

- Right, oh, it's great.

- It's such a good grape.

- Yeah.

- [Katie Epner] But Gallagher meets regularly with Hans Walter-Peterson, viticulture extension specialist at Cornell University.

- So, the spotted lanternfly is something, we've been talking about for a number of years, ever since it showed up in Pennsylvania about 10 years ago.

- [Katie Epner] A 2019 study by economists at Penn State estimated that if they aren't contained, the spotted lanternfly, could cost Pennsylvania's economy more than $324 million annually.

The bugs are particularly fond of grapevines, so they're especially worrisome to winemakers.

- The reason that we're concerned about spotted lanternfly in vineyards is that they can literally, they suck the sap out of the grapevines.

- [Katie Epner] That can weaken and kill the vines, taking acres out of production.

Winemakers in the Finger Lakes region of New York are hoping a solution can be found before spotted lanternflies make it to their vines.

- [Conor] I'm glad it's not here yet.

I'm glad that it didn't hit us first, if that makes sense.

Because it gives us the chance to watch them in action and try and mitigate it in real-time and help us learn from what they're going through.

- [Katie Epner] Back at Watkins Glen State Park, Brian and Dave are abuzz, because their plan to use trees of heaven as bait to poison the lanternfly seems to be working.

- Seeing as it's still early season and this has only been out a week, these have only been out to catch them a week and we've already got at least half a dozen in each trap and it's only going to pick up.

- [Katie Epner] While the tree trapping method, using insecticides appears to be working, it's not a long-term solution.

- The end goal is always an effective biocontrol.

This takes time though, because there has to be extensive testing and research to make sure any species that we bring over to control the spotted lanternfly, won't itself become a pest.

- [Katie Epner] There's evidence that birds, insects, spiders and even fungi are killing spotted lanternflies.

So, nature might be finding a way to control their population.

In the meantime, Rutherford says, the public can play an important role in controlling the spread of spotted lanternflies.

- If you're going to an area where you know that there is spotted lanternfly, check your vehicles for egg masses.

If you see any, you scrape them off, put them in a container with alcohol, rubbing alcohol.

- [Katie Epner] And if you run across the lanternflies themselves, you can also do what many governments and scientists have recommended, squish them.

But I tried it and it's easier said than done.

I got one!

- [Dave] Oh, you got it!

(Katie screams) - Take it, take it!

(Katie laughs) - [Dave] Wow, nice.

You know, oh!

Oh, you got them that time.

You're gonna have sticky hands!

- [Katie Epner] Yaay!

- [Dave] But he's still very much alive.

- [Katie Epner] Next time, I'll be ready.

(air whooshing) (gentle music) - Thanks for watching.

For more about any of the stories in this show, visit greatlakesnow.org.

When you get there, you can follow us on social media, or subscribe to our newsletter to get updates about our work.

(air whooshing) (upbeat music) (air whooshing) - [Narrator] This program is brought to you by Richard C. Devereaux Foundation for Energy and Environmental Programs at Detroit PBS, Polk Family Fund, DTE Foundation, and contributions to "Great Lakes Now" from viewers like you.

Thank you.

(bright music)