Drop a Brick on Zebra Mussels:

An Early Detection Volunteer Monitoring Program on Lake George

The Lake George Association

image from www.invasive.org/browse/detail.cfm?imgnum=1354037

Directions for Monitoring for Zebra Mussels

· Hang a brick off your dock on a rope– make sure the brick is a few feet above the bottom of the lake so it doesn’t get covered with sediment. Zebra mussels attach to hard objects – like bricks – and aren’t found in sediment (which is where our native mussels live).

· Hang the brick as close as possible to where you keep your boat tied to your dock or where boats are launched and/or retrieved – since it is likely that the main way they are spreading around the lake is by hitchhiking on boats.

· Check your brick regularly throughout the summer – if it feels grittier than usual or you see something that looks suspicious call the LGA right away.

· You can leave your brick in all year – or take it out for the winter. If you take your brick out for the winter, just put it back in the water in the spring.

· If you do not have a brick, please call the office and we will be sure you get one. Remember: check your brick regularly during the summer and give us a call if you find anything that you think might be zebra mussels.

· If you have multiple people that use your dock and you would like a tag to label your brick so that it is not accidentally removed, let us know and we will send you one.

Zebra mussels reproduce when water temperatures reach about 55 degrees F – which is around the first or second week of June for our area. The young are microscopic zooplankton called veligers that float in the water. It isn’t until they settle to the bottom and begin to grow a shell that we can really see them. We don’t think that zebra mussels can successfully reproduce in Lake George, because we have low calcium levels in the lake, and zebra mussels need calcium to build their shells. But there are some areas in the lake with higher levels of calcium, and concrete also leaches a small amount of calcium as well.

Image from: www.fws.gov/midwest/mussel/images/zebra_mussel_%20life_cycle.html

Remember, zebra mussels could settle on a rock or dock piling right next to your brick – so just checking your brick doesn’t mean you don’t have any zebra mussels – bricks are not zebra mussel kryptonite! But they are a very important part of raising awareness and working towards early detection. The more people we have looking for zebra mussels – the more likely we are to find them and be able to remove them before they have a chance to take a hold.

To learn more about the LGA and how to support its work, go online to www.lakegeorgeassociation.org.