AREA — Friends of Wilson Lake invites the public to view beneath Wilson Lake on Saturday, June 8.

Take a narrated tour of Wilson Lake aboard the Melinda Ann, with scientists from the Maine Lakes Society, on June 8. (Submitted image)

Take a narrated tour of Wilson Lake with lake scientists from the Maine Lakes Society on the Melinda Ann floating classroom. There will be three separate trips – each lasting just over an hour – on Saturday, June 8, at 9 a.m., 11 a.m., and 1:30 p.m.

There is room for only 12 adult passengers on each trip, and tickets are available on a first come basis. There is no charge for this event, but organizers expect a waiting list.

To reserve your space, call Wynn Muller at 860-604-0424, with the following information: your name, phone number, and your first, second and third choices for a tour time.

This floating classroom has been provided to Wilton fourth graders for the past two springs, and we hope to make it a regular part of the school curriculum.

Participants will learn about the living nature of Wilson Lake from the deck of a large pontoon boat. The boat is equipped with many tools for learning about the lake and its inhabitants including a Remote Operated Vehicle with a 150-foot tether, a camera with thruster and lights, and a video monitor for a wonderful underwater view of the lake and its inhabitants at various levels; a Plankton Tow that collects samples of zooplankton, bringing them to the boat for viewing using a Ken-a-Vision microscope projector; a Benthic Dredge to collect samples of the lake bottom that are also analyzed with the Ken-a-Vision projector; a Water Column Sampler to demonstrate how one can take samples of the water at various depths; a Dissolved Oxygen Probe to compare oxygen levels and water temperature at different depths; and an Aqua-Scope and Secchi Disk to learn how water clarity in monitored throughout the summer.

In addition, participants will see LakeSmart homes and lake wildlife, and view the permanent buoy placed at the “deep hole” that reads the dissolved oxygen and water temperature at various levels every 30 minutes throughout the year, including the winter months, maintained with the help of University of Maine at Farmington.

 


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