If you find a drifter along your property, please call NYSDEC at 585-226-5344, 585-226-5339 or 607-422-7136 or e-mail DEC Region 8 fisheries at fwfish8@dec.ny.gov.

KEUKA LAKE — For a two-week period of Sept. 30 through Oct.14, you may notice a few blinking lights drifting around Keuka Lake. These drifting lights are part of a study by NYSDEC and Cornell to measure water currents in each branch of the lake.

In 2018, NYSDEC began stocking Cisco, a native fish species, into Keuka Lake to restore a previously extirpated forage fishery. Since then, the DEC have been researching and monitoring their population to estimate how many Cisco remain and where they are located. In October 2020, DEC collected lake-wide environmental DNA (known as ‘eDNA’) water samples to assess the distribution of recently stocked Cisco, with much support from several members of KLA. For more info on eDNA see this blog post from National Park Service: https:// www.nps.gov/articles/aps-19-1-6.htm.

The water samples indicated that Cisco were present in several key areas. However, without baseline data on lake currents, researchers cannot evaluate location accuracy given the potential for eDNA movement in the water. As such, the DEC plans to deploy six drifting devices in October to better understand how currents move throughout Keuka Lake.

What to look for The drifting devices formally known as ‘Lagrangian drifters’ are composed of two components: A low-resistance ‘float’ at the surface, and a highdrag ‘drogue’ attached below at 39 feet or 59 feet depths that acts as an underwater sail.

Floats are 2 ft. tall white PVC pipes with a solar-powered flashing beacon and reflective tape. The floats will only be approximately 1 foot above the waterline. Drogues are 4 ft. x 4 ft. with multiple panels of white or black plastic sheeting. Each drifter has a label with contact information for DEC.

The drifters will be deployed for two weeks, and the DEC ask the public to please avoid touching or moving the drifters while they are out on the lake, and to please contact them if a drifter washes up along someone’s dock or shoreline. (See contact information below) “The drogues are bulky and heavy, so we advise leaving equipment alone if you find one,” say the researchers. “Thank you in advance for your continued help and support with this project!”

• If you find a drifter along your property, please call NYSDEC at 585-226-5344, 585-2265339 or 607-422-7136 or e-mail DEC Region 8 fisheries at fwfish8@dec.ny.gov

• For general project questions, or if you have insights to how currents move in Keuka Lake, please email Alex Koeberle, Ph.D. student at Cornell University: alk239@cornell.edu

Login to your account below

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.