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Started By
Message
rangia clams to completely clean Lake Pontchartrain in 5 days
Posted on 1/28/16 at 7:53 am
Posted on 1/28/16 at 7:53 am

quote:
Years ago, Ferguson ran laboratory tests on rangia clams, and determined that under ideal conditions — 86-degree water with 5 parts per thousand salinity — the peak biomass of rangia clams could filter the entire volume of Lake Pontchartrain in 1.2 days. Now, obviously, the water in the lake in considerably colder than that now, and the salinity is surely close to zero. Ferguson said she consulted with University of New Orleans professor Michael Poirier on Wednesday, and the two scientists agreed that under the current conditions, the clams would entirely filter Lake Pontchartrain's water within three to five days, assuming high winds don't add unrelated turbidity.

I'm guessing these are the clams that litter the sandbars on the western edges of Lake Maurepas.
This post was edited on 1/28/16 at 7:54 am
Posted on 1/28/16 at 7:55 am to meauxjeaux2
So what are we waiting for?
Posted on 1/28/16 at 7:56 am to slutiger5
quote:they are there already. Just waiting on the Bonnet Carre to close
So what are we waiting for?
Posted on 1/28/16 at 7:56 am to meauxjeaux2
If true, then that is impressive. And yes these are the clams in the Little Lake as well.
Posted on 1/28/16 at 7:57 am to slutiger5
We are waiting on the clams to do their thing. They are already in there.
Posted on 1/28/16 at 8:03 am to meauxjeaux2
Those are all over in the lake already
Go to the old Pontchartrain Beach and move your feel below the sand. You can snag one quickly
Go to the old Pontchartrain Beach and move your feel below the sand. You can snag one quickly
Posted on 1/28/16 at 8:03 am to meauxjeaux2
they make a damn good driveway too
Posted on 1/28/16 at 8:08 am to Motorboat
Have they rebounded? I know that their population density was suffering a few years ago
Posted on 1/28/16 at 8:09 am to Motorboat
So how often have they closed the Bonnet Clare? If they do close it on a regular schedule and clam dredging has been stopped since 1990 how come the clams havent cleaned it yet? I missing something obviously.
This post was edited on 1/28/16 at 8:11 am
Posted on 1/28/16 at 8:09 am to Motorboat
So how often have they closed the Bonne Clare? If they do close it on a regular schedule and clam dredging has been stopped since 1990 how come the clams havent cleaned it yet? I missing something obviously.
Posted on 1/28/16 at 8:10 am to xenon16
quote:
These are descendants of the same clams that were irresistible to profiteers in the 1970s and '80s. Back then, shell-dredgers stripped so many rangia clams from the lake that the filter-feeders weren't sufficient enough to help control pollution levels. As a result, "no-swimming" signs were posted along the lakeshore in 1979.
But since shell-dredging was banned in 1990, the clams have come back strong, Ferguson said, and because of that, residents will likely be shocked to see how quickly the lake cleans up after the spillway bays are closed.
Posted on 1/28/16 at 8:12 am to cgrand
quote:
damn good driveway too
Childhood memories right there. A cut my barefeet more than once on those things growing up. Could also use them as chalk in the part of our driveway that was actually concrete. Drew the free throw line with em all the time backyard bball ges
Posted on 1/28/16 at 8:18 am to jeffsdad
quote:did you mean open?
So how often have they closed the Bonne Clare?
Posted on 1/28/16 at 8:22 am to jeffsdad
quote:
So how often have they closed the Bonnet Clare? If they do close it on a regular schedule and clam dredging has been stopped since 1990 how come the clams havent cleaned it yet? I missing something obviously.
This. Many years ago I saw barges by the thousands fill with those claims.


Posted on 1/28/16 at 1:37 pm to Dock Holiday
They were fun to sail and skip across the water too. 

Posted on 1/28/16 at 2:36 pm to meauxjeaux2
What are we specifically talking about with cleaning? For general water clarity or do they actuallh help filter out things like pollutants?
Posted on 2/8/16 at 8:17 pm to Spankum
I was ready to suggest transplanting them to the Atchafalaya Basin, until I read the part that says:
"The rangia clam doesn't want that dirt, but it's already filtered it out, so it has to do something with it."
"What happens is they bind it up with mucous into what's called pseudofeces, and they spit it back out," Ferguson
said. "Because it's bound with the mucous, it's heavier than the sediments suspended in the water column, so it settles to the bottom."
We've already got too much sediment in the Basin. May as well leave the buggers in Lake Ponchartrain.
"The rangia clam doesn't want that dirt, but it's already filtered it out, so it has to do something with it."
"What happens is they bind it up with mucous into what's called pseudofeces, and they spit it back out," Ferguson
said. "Because it's bound with the mucous, it's heavier than the sediments suspended in the water column, so it settles to the bottom."
We've already got too much sediment in the Basin. May as well leave the buggers in Lake Ponchartrain.

Posted on 2/9/16 at 7:53 am to ClydeFrog
quote:
What are we specifically talking about with cleaning? For general water clarity or do they actuallh help filter out things like pollutants?
for the record
the lake is much more polluted than the river
but the river is... muddier
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