Bulletins

The Grand Tappattoo Resort’s lovely air conditioned facility and buffet dinner were much appreciated during a fun filled OLRA BBQ on Aug. 6th. The event raised $670 for OLRA’s lake stewardship initiatives (eDNA sampling to detect biodiversity, benthos and water quality monitoring). Thank you very much to all the generous (mostly local) vendors who donated a wide variety of raffle prizes and to those who entered!

Everyone learned something in the OLRA Lake Trivia contest with the winning team (Mario and Bev Buszynski, Barbara and Stu Beecroft, Tony and Margaret Buszynski, and Deb, Jeff and Megan Smith) receiving Otter Lake mugs as prizes. Congrats!!

As well, Christopher Whitman brought a variety of his unique wooden flag creations for sale and to seed ideas for custom orders.

Many thanks go to Susan Shackleton, Sales Manager at Stirling Hotels Canada and the team at the Grand Tappattoo Resort for hosting us. We are lucky to have such a facility on our lake!

Thanks also go to all the OLRA volunteers who made this event such a success: Gerry Doyle, Marty Chepesiuk, Denise Exler, AJ Mueller, Rob Cribbie, Brad Chittick and Kerry Mueller.

Sunday Aug. 6th OLRA held an eDNA sampling workshop kicking off our eDNA project. Ecologist Cameron Von Bratt of Freshwater Ecosystem Services, explained the importance of biodiversity to the survival of all life, especially species like humans and loons who are at the top of their food chains. eDNA analysis makes detecting and monitoring biodiversity much more efficient, affordable and simpler than ever before. Citizen scientists can be instrumental in gathering such data.

Nature Metrics (Guelph) supplied OLRA with 9 sampling kits, 6 of which were used to sample sites where water flows into Otter Lake and Little Otter Lake from other lakes and wetlands. This will give us biodiversity info about our lakes as well as those other water bodies in our watershed such as Salmon Lake, Rankin Lake and Sovereign Lake. (See map here.)

Species on earth are disappearing at an alarming rate. Historically it has been very expensive and time consuming to monitor biodiversity so it did not get done. However, this new eDNA technology is helping to economically identify species that were in water during in the last 24 – 72 hours by identifying their DNA shed in the water.

There is a fast growing database of DNA “fingerprints” of organism worldwide. The samples OLRA collects will be analyzed, contribute to this growing database and also kept on file at Nature Metrics so that they can be re-assessed as new species’ DNA information becomes available. For more info on eDNA analysis check out the Nature Metrics website and video here.

Thanks go to Brian Hindley and Cameron Von Bratt who took the samples and to all who participated in the workshop too (L-R in photo Mary and Richard Hood, Nicole Mailloux, Cameron Von Bratt, Brad Chittick, Brian Hindley and photographer Kerry Mueller). Thanks also go to the Chitticks for the use of their tent and property.

Look for more news on this project in our fall newsletter.