Keeping Our Great Lakes Great

On October 10, I attended a presentation at the Toronto Public Library, "Protecting the Greatness of Our Great Lakes" by Mary Kate Whibbs, biologist, educator and Aqua-Links Coordinator at the Toronto Zoo.

There are five Great Lakes.  From West to East, they are: Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario.  They are situated between Canada and the United States, except for Lake Michigan, which is entirely in the United States.

The Great Lakes provide us with fresh drinking water, food, recreational opportunities, electricity, and other economic advantages.  The Great Lakes Basin supports a diversity of plants, fish, and wildlife.

However, there are many things that threaten the health of the Great Lakes.  These include: invasive species (such as sea lampreys and zebra mussels), toxic algae blooms, microplastics, pollution runoffs, as well as a lack of connection and appreciation of the Great Lakes.

On a government level, there are laws and government strategies that are in place to protect the Great Lakes, which include:

• Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement 
• Canada-Ontario Agreement 
• Fisheries Act and the Aquatic Invasive Species Regulations under this Act
• Ontario’s Provincial Fish Strategy 

On an individual level, there are things we can do to help to protect the Great Lakes.  These include:

• volunteering plant shrubs and trees to support habitat near the shoreline
• collecting water samples to send to the lab for analysis through Lake Ontario Waterkeeper 
• donating
• conserving water/reducing water usage 

For more information on the Great Lakes, check out these resources:

• Great Lakes Protection website from the Government of Canada
• Great Lakes Strategy website from the Government of Ontario