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Environment

Waterkeeper IS the 'Quay To A Clean Lake'

Posted by Kari / August 8, 2007

1 Comments

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I've just returned from my annual camping trip, burnt from hours in the sun and shriveled from hours in the lake. I didn't dive in without doing my research first though. I knew the bacteria counts for Southern Ontario's beaches have been up and down the scale, and I wanted to be sure I wouldn't get crazy infections from swimming in the water. I scoured the internet for any resources, and stumbled upon the Lake Ontario Waterkeeper.

The Lake Ontario Waterkeeper is one of many watchdogs led by environmental big name Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (I absolutely love how high profilers are getting involved with environmental awareness- it's about time!) His organization, the Waterkeeper Alliance, runs out of New York and strives to spread awareness and raise funds for the massive cleanup necessary to restore our Great Lakes, and frankly, the whole world's fresh water supply in general.

As it tends to happen, events in my life align coincidentally. I'd only just learned about the organization, and then was pleasantly surprised to find out that Krystyn Tully, Vice President of the Lake Ontario Waterkeeper, will be speaking at an event this Saturday. It's called 'Quay To A Clean Lake', and it's being organized by the Queen's Quay Sailing and Powerboating Club.

Water appreciation events will occur all day on August 12th, from free canoe rentals to movies to live music. Check out the full schedule after the jump!

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10am
Harbourfront Canoe & Kayak Centre will be giving free canoe rentals to any experienced canoeist that will pick up two bags of garbage from the harbour. An experienced canoeist is someone that has either taken a course with the centre, or can demonstrate their ability in a quick practical test.

11am
The Disabled Sailing Association is sailing around the island in a flotilla. Any sailboat is welcome to join them, this is a critical mass type event, raising awareness about the state of Lake Ontario.

12 noon
Krystyn Tully, Vice President of the Lake Ontario Waterkeeper will be speaking at a BBQ hosted by the Queens Quay Sailing and Powerboating Club.

2pm
Yacht races will be run with the Queens Quay Sailing and Powerboating Club's fleet of J24 racing boats. Participation is $5 a person, with all money raised going to the Waterkeeper.

6pm
Live acoustic music with A 4th World and Tea & Toast on the back patio of the Queens Quay Sailing and Powerboating Club.

8pm
The Streets To Screens division of the Toronto Public Space Committee will be showing relevant short films on the back patio of the Queens Quay Sailing and Powerboating Club. They'll be playing the Log Driver's Waltz... remember that cartoon?

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Noel G / August 28, 2007 at 05:02 pm
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Bacteria counts and beaches, sounds like a sensible idea does it not? It certainly does to me, however recently I have found out just how difficult it is to keep track of these things. The difficulty does not stem from a lack of concern though. I think you would be rather surprised as I was to find that an E.coli test actually takes 24 hours to perform. This means that by the time you get your bacteria count back as hard data, it has changed on the beach. Bummer, I know. There are however some things you can do to minimize your bacterial exposure. Several factors contribute to E.coli on beaches, one of which is runoff. Knowing that, we can assume that E.coli levels will be highest following periods of rainfall. One thing that you may not be aware of though is that feces from wildlife more specifically seagulls contribute more to beach E.coli than the runoff that goes into the lake that ends up washing onto the shore. This is why you should never feed birds on the beach, otherwise they will continue to congregate there in search of easy meals and as they defecate on the beach they leave E.coli traces from their feces.

One more thing you may not be aware of. E.coli counts on affected beaches occur highest in that thin band of wet sand between the dry sand and the water. You know, that place where your kids love to play and build sand castles. So if you come back from the beach and the kids get diarrhea, you can be pretty certain where they picked it up from. Take a look around, if you can see seagulls around you can be fairly certain that there is a higher E.coli count than on a beach where you find no seagulls. However, you cannot infer that if there are no seagulls there is no E.coli. Basically all we can do is observe, and minimize the risk.
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