confirmed warbird wrecks in lake erie??

[Django]

I think with the Navy stuff, they had a rough location to start with from the ship's log. That P-38 would be nearly like finding the lost squadron or Amelia Earhart's shoe!

Except that there is at least a snowball's chance of finding if it did indeed go into the lake, and if anyone can find it, Taras can.

[Dan K]

I think with the Navy stuff, they had a rough location to start with from the ship's log. That P-38 would be nearly like finding the lost squadron or Amelia Earhart's shoe!

Except that there is at least a snowball's chance of finding if it did indeed go into the lake, and if anyone can find it, Taras can.

Finding a P-38 should be a piece of cake...I mean, c'mon, how big can a lake be?

[CoastieJohn]

The airborne technology is there but it's spendy. There is currently airborne work (over ice, not water) going on in Greenland. Hopefully positive news soon.

[Django]

Well, at least there are no crabs to destroy evidence...

[CoastieJohn]

Well, at least there are no crabs to destroy evidence...

I don't know if those pesky zebra mussels damage underwater wrecks. It wouldn't surprise me if they did.

[bdk]

Are there Zebra Mussels in Lake Erie?

[CoastieJohn]

Are there Zebra Mussels in Lake Erie?

Yes. I just lifted this off of the website. It's a USGS pic of where they are currently located.



Here a pic from the same website showing some of these critters attached to an old wooden shipwreck.

[airnutz]

Are there Zebra Mussels in Lake Erie?

Yes. I just lifted this off of the website. It's a USGS pic of where they are currently located.



Here a pic from the same website showing some of these critters attached to an old wooden shipwreck.

Mmmmm, not currently, the map is from 2000. Another Russian import, the quagga mussel has replaced the zebra in Lake Erie. No good news in that...the quagga ranges deeper into zones that were previously unpalatable to the zebra.

[CoastieJohn]

Good catch.....thanks. I checked up on these Russian mussels and it sounds like they do the same thiing.

[airnutz]

Good catch.....thanks. I checked up on these Russian mussels and it sounds like they do the same thiing.

Similar but worse, the cousin of the zebra mussel is slightly larger and reaches deeper depths in which the wrecks or artifacts were "safe" from zebra infestation. They both have origins in Russia.

Another gift of unregulated "free trade".

[brucev]

back to the P-38, is it safe to assume this aircraft would not have suffered as "gentle" of an impact with the water as most of the already raised aircraft (which were ditched or pushed over the side)? I would hazard a w.a.g. that very little of the P-38 would be intact or even recognizable.

[tom d. friedman]

zebra mussels infest all of the great lakes. each zebra mussel is about the size of your thumb nail. each 1 filters roughly a quart of water a day for food. there are roughly 30 thousand of them per square foot on every surface in the great lakes. their sheer bulk weight built up is caving in & collapsing shipwrecks. that is bad enough if they are made of wood, aircraft, while made of aluminum i think would fair a little better. lake michigan has proved so as it's very deep. the deeper the water the less mussels. lake erie is the shallowest of the great lakes with an average depth of 40 feet. the farther east though the lake gets deeper. toward erie pa the deepest point in erie is roughly 200 feet.

[airnutz]

Sure Tom, I'm sure there are zebra's still in Erie but the consensus is, the quagga is the new king wiping out the zebra. While the zebra is dormant in the winter, the quagga keeps on ticking. The quagga is occupying the zebra's shallower zones, but where the zebra starts declining in numbers near the 200' level the quagga proliferates quite well, as I understand it. The king is dead, long live the king!