Teach Me About the Great Lakes

Our Halloween special, with guest Geneva Langeland of Michigan Sea Grant.

Show Notes

Links:
Geneva's twitter feed
Michigan Sea Grant
http://invasivecarp.us/Documents/BarrierBrochure.pdf
https://www.usgs.gov/faqs/what-are-asian-carp?qt-news_science_products=0#qt-news_science_products
https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/meteotsunami.html 
https://www.michiganseagrant.org/lessons/lessons/by-broad-concept/earth-science/surges-and-seiches-2/
https://greatlakes.org/great-lakes-plastic-pollution-fighting-for-plastic-free-water/
https://www.usgs.gov/news/widespread-plastic-pollution-found-great-lakes-tributaries
https://nas.er.usgs.gov/queries/factsheet.aspx?SpeciesID=713
https://theculturetrip.com/north-america/canada/articles/12-beautiful-islands-you-need-to-visit-in-canada/
Teach Me About the Great Lakes 3: It Would Have to Be the Perfect Rock
Teach Me About the Great Lakes 9: The Hamster Wheel of Rumination

Credits:
Midwest Mysteries
Written by Ethan Chitty
Performed by Ethan Chitty and Alena Chitty

Lake Michigan Makes a Wave
Written and Performed by Geneva Langeland

Serenity How?
Written and Performed by Stuart Carlton

Carl's Bad Day
Written and Performed by Carolyn Foley

Host & Executive Producer: Stuart Carlton
Co-Hosts: Hope Charters, Ethan Chitty, Carolyn Foley
Producers: Hope Charters, Carolyn Foley, Megan Gunn, & Irene Miles
Associate Producer: Ethan Chitty
Edited by: Quinn Rose
Podcast art by: Joel Davenport
Music by: Stuart Carlton and Carolyn Foley (!)

Creators & Guests

Host
Stuart Carlton
Stuart Carlton is the Assistant Director of the Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant College Program. He manages the day-to-day operation of IISG and works with the IISG Director and staff to coordinate all aspects of the program. He is also a Research Assistant Professor and head of the Coastal and Great Lakes Social Science Lab in the Department of Forestry & Natural Resources at Purdue, where he and his students research the relationship between knowledge, values, trust, and behavior in complex or controversial environmental systems.

What is Teach Me About the Great Lakes?

A monthly podcast in which Stuart Carlton (a native New Orleanian) asks smart people to teach him about the Great Lakes. Co-hosted by the awesome staff at Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant.

Disclaimer: This is an automated transcript, we apologize for any errors. If you notice any problems, please email the show at teachmeaboutthegreatlakes@gmail.com. Thank you.

Stuart Carlton 0:00
teach me about the Great Lakes, teach me about the Great Lakes. Welcome back to teach you about the Great Lakes a twice monthly podcast in which I A Great Lakes novice, get people who are smarter and harder working than I am to teach me all about the Great Lakes. And actually this is my name is Stuart Carlton, I work with Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant, this is actually kind of a special episode. Because you know, it's fall and a lot of our team is vaccinated. And so we thought it would be fun for us to kind of get together, you know, spend some time outside in the beautiful fall weather, you know, just sort of sit around, maybe tell some stories about the lake or whatever. And I thought it'd be fun for you, the listener to join in. And so what we're doing is we've actually we rented a lake house out on Lake Michigan, and we're going to go there and you know, we're going to just record it, we'll edit it down to the best parts and, and that's what you're going to hear in just a minute after this introduction. So I thought it would really be worth doing I thought it'd be fun. So let's see. Oh, there's a hotline now. I think that Ethan with his info Hold on.

Ethan 1:08
This is Ethan. We were able to get a place book through Airbnb. The address 742 overlook terrace right next to the lake. A big plate.

Stuart Carlton 1:24
Okay, good. He got something from Airbnb it sounded like so let's go there to 30 or 740 to overlook terrorists. All right, well, let's, what we're gonna do is we're just gonna walk out to my car. And I'll continue the introduction a little bit as I drive there, but then we'll cut until we get to the actual house itself. So just give me a second here. I'm walking to my car. Outside and here's my car. Alright, let me open the door. Oh, that's weird. There's a hook on the door. I don't know what that is. Well, let me get rid of it. All right, good. And I'll open the door and shut up. Now we'll get started. Let me turn it down. Okay, so I'm gonna cut here real quick. But just just so you know, as we're getting there. Again, we're recording this outside. And as you know, the Midwest is really windy. So we had to give everybody their own microphone instead of using just kind of one central microphone because it couldn't get picked up. So if you notice, like all the people there are sounding a little bit different or whatever, you know, the audio quality is different. That's not because we're recording this with a bunch of different microphones sort of spread around Illinois and Indiana. That's because they have different microphones in person. They're at the lake where I'm about to drive and we're going to do this episode from so don't let yourself be confused. Anyway, so now we got the car let's drive and we'll pick it up when we get a little bit closer. All right

Okay, good. Let's see here we are. Oh, this must be out there Sleeping Bear Dunes not know my GPS has taken me. Oh, that's weird. Has sleeping they're doing either. Where's this place? bleeping scared dudes. Okay. I guess it's down this way. Then. Turn the car. That's good. Wow. If it was right, this place is awfully awfully big house or at least shut the door. They're open or shut the car. Door. Okay, good. Let me walk on over to a place Ethan under where he found this. She was all right. Here's the front door. Okay. I guess I'll take that room. That's the biggest one. That's administrators privilege right there. I'm gonna see everybody I guess. Oh, they're back. I see him right now. All right, head on out back. Good. All right. Oh, look. Hey, there's everybody.

Carolyn Foley 3:58
Hey, Stuart.

Stuart Carlton 3:59
Hey, Carolyn. How are you?

Carolyn Foley 4:00
I'm doing all right. Thank you. How are you doing?

Stuart Carlton 4:03
I'm awesome. Ethan Geneva is here. Hey. I guess we knew since what Portland? I guess.

Geneva Langeland 4:09
I know. It's been a while Stuart. Thanks for inviting me out here. Oh, oh, yeah. Well,

Stuart Carlton 4:13
we're always glad to have a just a nice time outside. While we're here. Oh, there's hope. Hey, hope. Do you mind starting up a fire for us real quick.

Hope Charters 4:20
Oh, sure. I got that.

Stuart Carlton 4:24
Oh, there she goes. Where'd you get those matches?

Hope Charters 4:29
I just carry them around. I'm gonna wait.

Stuart Carlton 4:37
Wow, that's nice. So what's new think about the Great Lakes. It's so nice to be on unbelievable fall weather. Anybody anything cool to talk about?

Ethan 4:45
Well, guys, I got a new podcast that I'd like you guys to be able to hear the icon. Yeah. It's called Midwest mysteries. New

Stuart Carlton 4:54
Quest mysteries. What's it all about, man?

Ethan Chitty 4:56
Well, we hear all sorts of cabinet Urban legends and Strange Tales from all over the Great Lakes in the Midwest, and then we dig into them a little deeper to find out what the story that started them in us.

Carolyn Foley 5:10
Using your historian skills,

Stuart Carlton 5:11
your historian skills that is awesome. Oh, yeah, well, I'd love to hear once it's released or whatever that that sounds funny thing. I'm glad to hear about that. Well,

Ethan 5:21
actually, if you're if you're that excited about it, I have the first episode. Here with me. I've got it on my phone.

Stuart Carlton 5:27
Let's go ahead and fire it up right now.

Midwest Mysteries Narrator 5:40
Hello, and welcome to another episode. Midwest mysteries. Have you ever noticed how sometimes things just disappear? How something you're absolutely certain, you know where you put it wanders off mysteriously? Perhaps it's just the stumbling of a forgetful or frazzled mind. Or perhaps it's something more. Our story today starts with Ned and Marge P FOSS starts off the way many stories do. We join a couple at home frustrated by a home maintenance problem.

Midwest Mystery Character 6:23
Hi, hon. Did you take a look at the washer? Yeah, I took a look at it last night, but didn't see anything that was really wrong. I'll go take a look at it in a little bit. I want to watch this story about microplastics real quick.

I'm telling you it was making weird noises it seems to do it around this time every year.

Weird. Okay, I'll get my tools and take another look. By the way have you seen my fleece sweatshirt? The green one?

I thought I'd put it in the wash. And it's starting to get cold out

Nope. I was going to ask you have you seen my fuzzy socks

huh no sir fuzz on that right

I'll take a look at the filter

a deer come take a look at this

did you put grease rag in the washer again?

No. It looks like it's coming from the outside Why is it all sorts of colors

what was that? Sounded like the pipe was shaking. A Shopback stuck going on that a sock

oh no

Midwest Mysteries Narrator 7:51
it's good net P FOSS was never heard from again. Neighbors say that March P FOSS was staring intently at her washing machine and screaming about a sock monster. Every year there are reports of things disappear. Particularly around our lakes and waterways. Most of these things go unnoticed. But occasional. Such as the case of Ned P FOSS. Some someone speaks up where's it all going? And if we're not careful, when is it going to come for us? After all, scientists in the Great Lakes only find microscopic pieces after these mysterious creatures are done with their takings.

Carolyn Foley 9:17
I'm terrified scariest story I've ever heard.

Stuart Carlton 9:20
It really is. Ethan that sounds good. That is boy that is likely to gain more listeners than we have. I'll say that much. I'm terrified to tell you the truth from that kind of scary, scary story.

Carolyn Foley 9:39
I mean, we have had a number of people come and talk to us about plastics and microplastics. Right and then Peeve oz. Yeah.

Stuart Carlton 9:48
You'll hear that. Do you hear something?

Geneva Langeland 9:51
I don't know. Stuart. What do you think that is?

Carolyn Foley 9:53
I don't know. Just why wilderness right? Yeah,

Stuart Carlton 9:57
I guess we're just outside and you know, of course we have this roaring fire. So it's hard. To hear much of all, but much at all, but yeah, I just thought I thought I heard a little something. Who knows? Who knows? Anyway? Yeah, well, I think about scary stories. It does. It does. It does kind of remind me of, you know, like when we used to sit around campfires and tell scary stories and things like that, like when I was a kid, you know, and Boy Scouts, of course, you never wanted to go to sleep in Boy Scouts. But so you would sit around and for various reasons. You would sit around and tell scary stories. And yeah, does anybody know any like Good, good, scary stories to tell?

Geneva Langeland 10:33
Yeah, Stewart. I think I've got a story I could tell. Oh,

Stuart Carlton 10:36
I bet. I bet since you're a communications editor, we are good friends of Michigan secrets. Y'all do a lot of time telling stories over there. So I would love to hear your story.

Geneva Langeland 10:45
Yeah, so I grew up spending a lot of time on the shores of Lake Michigan. And when you spend a lot of time somewhere, it tends to kind of get into your head a little bit. And I can tell you I've had a few nightmares about Lake Michigan. And I think this story is going to explain a little bit as to why one day not so long ago, Lake Michigan rooted underneath a steely sky. Have you waves whacked onto the shoreline and dark clouds threatened rain. The lake was frustrated. It felt the skim of boats across its face. It felt the scrape of its dunes being flattened to make away for luxury condos. It felt the itch of unfamiliar and hungry creatures beneath its waters. It felt the creeping stain of yet another chemical spill from yet another factory. Like Michigan was frustrated and it was tired and it was angry. The lake scowled in the way only a lake can scowl and another line of whitecaps pounded the shore. Then a pair of goals landed on the branch of a floating tree trunk, like Michigan sent a little ripple toward the goals to listen to their conversation. The birds chattered about nestlings and small silvery fish and the link leaned closer, a great wave on a great lake called the ocean. The goals hadn't seen the wave themselves, but their cousin's cousin cousin had seen it. The ocean going goal had spoken of a wave of water that reared out of the sea and smashed farther inland than any other wave. This mighty wave sent the humans fleeing and scoured the shoreline clean of the buildings and roadways and barriers that the humans had built. The wave showed everyone just how mighty the ocean was. The goals whispered the waves name, tsunami.

Lake Michigan with drew its ripples and brooded even more deeply. A tsunami might be just the thing thought the lake, I want to be like the ocean. I want to scour my shoreline clean. I want everyone to see that I am mighty, I need to make a tsunami. So the lake concentrated with all its might bar out in the lake center. It pushed and pulled and pushed and pulled until a new ripple began to spread toward the east. As the ripple crossed the miles of open water it grew and grew. It became a wave and then a white cat and then a watery mountain. The lake drove it along, laughing as its waved Howard ever higher. As that water sped toward shore, Lake Michigan began to hear a new noise screaming and sirens from the top of its mountainous wave the lake could see humans near the shore, fleeing from their homes toward the safety of higher ground. The lake rejoiced. Now they would see how mighty it was. The towering wave had nearly reached the shore its moment of Might and Glory was at hand and the lake stopped. The wall of water reared back shuttered and paused. A woman was standing on the beach. When whipped her long hair and spray from the incoming waves splattered her face. She flailed her hands in the air and called out to the lake Wait, Lake Michigan, stop. What are you doing? The lake slashed its wave forward a few more feet. I'm making a tsunami. It said. The goals told me of a great wave in the great lake called the ocean. They said sometimes the ocean makes a tsunami and scours at Shoreline clean and shows everyone how mighty it is. I want to scour my shoreline clean. I want everyone to know how mighty I am. So I made a tsunami. Can I get on with it? The woman shook her head. Oh, Lake Michigan, she replied. You don't need to prove yourself to anyone. We love you. We know how mighty you are. And it may be difficult for you to see but so many humans are trying so hard to scour your Shoreline clean of the damage we've done. We're doing our best to make things right. Please don't wipe all that away with a tsunami. The wall of water wavered as the lake pondered her request. The humans had grown gentler in recent decades the reason it had felt the humans planting new beach grass, turning empty industrial buildings into public parks. It had enjoyed the feeling of happy humans tumbling and its surf. It likes showing off spectacular sunrises to people in the West and fiery sunsets to people in the east. It didn't mind the boats traveling across its face as long as they were careful not to leave anything behind. The lake realized that as much pain as they had caused over the years, humans really were trying to do better. The lake curled at the top of its monstrous wave into a nod. I have heard your requests tiny human, and I accept. I won't release this wave to scour the shoreline clean and show everyone how mighty I am. I'll leave those tasks to you and the other humans who are trying to do better. The woman smiled and fell to her knees and relief. Don't worry Lake Michigan, she said we won't let you down. So the lake relented. It pulled back and back and back until its towering wave had collapsed back into its surface. But it couldn't resist sending one big pulse of water up onto the sand. It didn't scour the shoreline clean, but it did remind the woman just how mighty that lake really was. And she turned and walked inland to bring the lakes request back to her people. So the next time like Michigan is whipped into a froth or atmospheric pressure from a storm far out over the water pushes a swelling wave towards shore. Remember that Lake Michigan speaks to us in whitecaps and stations when it could have sent a tsunami.

Carolyn Foley 16:48
That's awesome,

Ethan 16:49
fantastic story. I have never been more glad that I live downstate.

Geneva Langeland 16:56
I have legitimately had nightmares about walls of water swallowing my family's cottage on Lake Michigan. So this is pulled straight out of my brain.

Carolyn Foley 17:06
And I couldn't decide what it says about me that at one point I was kind of rooting for the lake. But maybe you all don't want to be sitting around a fire with me right now.

Stuart Carlton 17:17
I don't actually have a story but just thinking about like, you know, the lake being scary, whatever reminds me why don't you know, I don't have a scary story to tell. But it reminds me of something that happened to me, actually. So you see this bucket I'm sitting on right this bucket actually has been with me since 1994. I went on a I went on a canoeing trip in the Green River in Utah with like my best friend and his mentor and back in 94. And we were you know whitewater canoeing through Desolation Canyon Creek Canyon. And you know, there's an issue when you're on like these weeklong canoeing trips of bathroom situation, right. And so I don't know what you know about going to bathroom, but there are two types, we'll call one number one and we'll call the other number two, those are terms I just kind of made up and so the number ones you would do right into the river, you know, at morphin if you're a boy I'll be honest because you can like you know, do it off things but but whatever. And number two though, went in his bucket. And so I don't have it now it's just got a normal bucket tops, you can see but it had like a toilet seat. And so the whole groups number two went into the bucket. And so we did this whole week of canoeing was one of the foundational no kidding foundational experiences of my life. And then at the end of the weekend, we had to empty out the bucket and switch okay way campground and so what they have is they have a different top, it has basically a regular tab, it's got a tube, it looks like an elephant's trunk coming out of it, and you hook it up to like the RV camper, you know, sewage stuff. And so we went into a bathroom to do that, you know, so you hook the hose up, and then you hook you hook a hose on one side and is supposed to just blast everything out of there. So we pulled the lever to turn on the hose. And it turns out, there's like a gasket that goes with it. Oh no, we didn't have the gasket though. And so to quote to quote someone with us there was and this is a direct quote, much seepage bathroom and there is seepage. So there was a guy with this this is not a joke he played, he played football. I can't remember where he was you know, they're all a bit older. These were law students when I was in what about 16 years old. And when he said you football dude, stand on top of the bucket. Mike was his name and so Mike stood on top of the bucket because otherwise so they threw the switch and Mike lifted up the bucket sprayed all over this bathroom. And so we sprayed out the bathroom with the hose and we ran out of that kale a campground as fast as we could and we flew from Utah back to New Orleans. And I've kept that bucket sort of locked away ever since as a reminder to be careful with your emissions right and so you know, I kept that I kept them into Florida and Texas and then up here and you know every now and again though like I haven't actually looked at it since we washed it out every now and you can only hear the bucket like kind of rattling like a shaking noise or whatever. And so you know, I've been looking into this idea of like Goby dogs as as an industry right you know, a little side bit Just in case for funding. And so I decided I would go out and look for Goby dogs, you know, I tried to collect some gobies make, like, some recipes. And so I took the bucket with me. So it's like, I don't have another bucket. I'm not a biologist anymore. And so I took the bucket with me to go camping. And so that was all fine. And, you know, not as a bathroom because now we have far more elegant solutions for them. It's a collection device. And so I woke up in the morning and I brought the bucket out with me. And I went to collect gobies. Because you know, eating gobies is huge in Eastern Europe. It's very popular over there something they do all the time. And what's cool about gobies is they're invasive Of course, which is bad, but that's what we'd see for muscles. So that's, you know, maybe kind of cool. But then when they eat the zebra mussels, they also get a lot of botulism, which kills 1000s of birds a year. So, you know, gobies are this real weird thing. And if we can have fewer gobies and probably be good, so maybe we'll eat them a lot. Maybe this will be the first invasive species that we actually deal with by by eating. And so we're sitting there picking up gobies like in the lake, and I saw a guy there, this guy was not very shoveled, he was completely, you know, much less than shoveled long white hair from the top of his head down to his knees. His hair was combed back, but if you look closer, you could tell it was alive. With like the various detritus of the lake. There was algae in there and probably a couple of gobies into it. So what he was doing, he was collecting gobies right next to me who would pick one up and lick it and put it back into the lake. I was like, Dude, what are you doing? You're supposed to cook them first and Sermo pickles and chili. And he looked at me as he looked them, his eyes went spiraled. And he said,

and he looked at me crazy. And he said, Eat gobies from the lake. And it won't turn out great. I was like, what, what's your weirdo? And he said, If these you ingested won't be for the best. Sherman. Right, gotcha. So I put some of the, you know, I opened up my bucket to collect the gummies. And as I did, I saw a little glowing in there, but I just wanted to get out of there before this creepy dude, whatever is like through the gobies and there are some lakewater in there. And you know, I figured probably some phosphorescence or something that I gotten into. As I got back to my campsite. Went sleep, slept like a baby. Woke up in the morning. The bucket was overturned and trailing from the bucket to the lake were footprints well, sort of footprints. They were like webbed kind of smaller than human, but bigger than you know, like Adobe. I didn't think much about it though. Because I had a lot going on. It's actually I've been feeling really stressed lately, you know with COVID and everything. And if you remember from teach me about the Great Lakes episode nine with a really nice friend Dr. Minko. She said that something is really important is to go out and seek out Ah, and so sort of the separate reason I had done this triple Yes, collect gobies for Goby dogs made my fortune, et cetera, et cetera, but also let's find some off and so I drove them to a Sleeping Bear Dunes. You know, it's wonderful place. In fact, you can hear Larry Nelson talk about them that teach me about the Great Lakes episode three. And and so we went to I went to like the Empire bluff trail, and everything was calm, and I was like, this is just what I need. I need a sense of all and then I got near the lake and I heard something. It was like a raucous of splashing. It was a school of gobies. But these gobies were not your normal gobies, these were mute and gobies and I could tell because they had a third eye as mute and gobies do, and they were splashing around. And they were making such a noise that it was impossible to concentrate the sense of all was completely, completely gone. You I tried to focus I tried to do the mindfulness thing, but it was nothing but gobies and like the sound of fish flesh and slime. So I said I've got to get out of there. Go to the pyramid point trail, another wonderful place, same deal. Then I went to IO royal Same deal. Mute and gopis were overtaking that place. I went to Mackinac Island. You know, I grabbed a ride with Mike Pence and we were out there and we drove to the quietest place out there. And the gopis were there too. It was mute and gobies everywhere. They weren't exactly destroying the lakes, right. They weren't harming people or things. But there was no peace. There was no serenity. Everything was overcrowded. There was no all inspiring beauty. And so I tried to get back to work but my stress levels were rising. beaches were starting to close. Everything was too crowded with these mutant gobies. After a few weeks, I kept going back to the beaches, they kept being closed as the Gobi started to bite. People were getting nibbled into people's vacations now we're all overcrowding and nibbling. And it was not peaceful for anybody. It was not nice for anybody. I looked all over the lake. I couldn't find peace. I couldn't find quiet. I wasn't sure what to do. I realized that there was one place one island, on top of which was a cliff that nobody knew about me. This island was so far away so hidden. They even have a special name for it. That name is Canada. It's like grab this bucket and I grabbed this cool backpack I have that is filled with ice. And the I popped a couple of 12 ounce cans of serenity in there. I hijacked the RV Lake Guardian, and I drove to Canada, the island of Canada and as I pulled up to Canada island it was too shallow to actually reach right? So I hopped out and I started to swim toward shore. I could see the island in front of me the peacefulness right there. And they knew that that island promised me just what I needed a moment's quiet a moment's peace and so I started swimming. As I got close to shore there they were, the gobies mucking around making noise, stirring up the water. I got to shore as quickly as possible. But they began to emerge from the water, the gobies were walking and the webbed feet were actually their mutant fins that they were walking across the one with to me. It my tone. It spit my toe. So I grabbed it. It was like, well, thank goodness, I have this red backpack full ice here. And so I put the toe in the backpack. And so I started to walk out of Atomy I could see the cliff I started to walk to the cliff and then another one. And so I got it, I started kicking away the gobies with my eight good toes. And then with my seven and then with my six good toes. I was low on toes at this point. I hadn't more toes in my backpack that I had left. I knew I would have to climb the cliff and so I reached that cliff and I began to climb, pulling myself up with my arms and my one or two intact toes and hordes of gobies ran to the cliff but they were unable to climb. And so I was safe. I pause on a rock outcropping to catch my breath.

The gobies gathered blow unable to climb. And so I was catching my breath. But then all of a sudden, the gobies started to stack one on top of the other. There were unlimited hordes of gobies, a massive fish flesh, the climbing up the cliff and so I knew I had to move. So I climbed as hard. And as far as I could, I was losing a lot of blood at this point. Because again, I have I said this, I'm losing like eight toes to these gobies. And so they're finally I make it to the top of the cliff about to pass out I reached the summit and I lay there, I see a small hot I look at the HUD and they say there, there must be the place to go. So I pulled myself across the ground slowly toward the HUD about to pass out and I opened the door and I looked inside and there was the long haired man with the spiral eyes. And I told him my story. I said gobies are everywhere. They got out of my bucket I don't know what the deal was but they're they're everywhere. What should I do? What should I do and so this man, he reached down and he felt my wounds. He felt my wounds and I could feel actually serenity pulsing through me for just a moment but not a peace you know like a crazed serenity if that's even a thing. You put his hands on my head. What should I do? What should I do? Oh great, wise, great like mistakes. They said my son, the gobies have raided everywhere because of you. They've stolen the beauty of the lake and they've taken the serenity from us and you're down many toes that you're now having to carry around in a convenient ice chest on your backpack. The first thing that you should do my son is call a tow truck

Oh, and that's half of a true story.

Carolyn Foley 28:13
A shaggy dog story we were just talking about lack of serenity and things like that. I'm going to story I can change things a little bit we're going to talk about great lake tributaries Great Lakes tributaries, alright. I'm not going to name drop quite as many episodes of teach me about the Great Lakes as Stewart did. But we have also talked about Ruby. So there is nothing quite like the Great Lakes tributary on a sunny summer day. surface waters sparkle, reflecting the light of a star that is more than 92 million miles away. slumbering pools give way to referrals or rapids from which the water droplets soar into the next river section, or gorgeous foliage along the shoreline provide shaded spots where plant and animal life can lurk or leaves as is their preference. This is unsurprisingly, a place where many youngsters like to spend their time and that's just where Carl was on what turned out to be the very worst day of his life. It started out marvelously young and powerful Carl and his mates swam together through the Swift currents periodically breaking the surface with a violent splash before floating. Happily yes, they rested in his lower section. They drank they swam, they rested. They grazed on scrumptious morsels and then swam some more. They continued on chasing each other chasing those around them living plants tickle the tips of their bodies and feeling the warm sunshine on their backs. In a word. It was paradise. They were young and nothing could stop them. Except they hurt us fringe what? What what? aced the froze? Could they have imagined it? Yes, yes, they must have been imagined very once again, it was it was not a pleasant noise. It was a noise that you could feel in your bones in the depths of your stomach. It was not a pleasant noise, and it worried that you were them so much that they tried to escape that noise that terrible terrible noise and kept repeating and repeating. Some of Carl's mates tried to turn back and he saw that several heads exceeded they were hastily swimming away from the noise but Carl, Carl was swept along occurrent carried him kept him near the Sounders threatened to split up in his head. as suddenly as it had started, going away, stopped. Curl turned about looking for his fellows. They were gone. All of them. Carl was alone. Where to go? He, he had nowhere to go. He could not. He could not go back toward that sound. So he followed onward. Along the river. Carl was overcome with pain. Like his buddy bucked as he was hit again and again by a wave of something that he did not understand. Him today started out in a beautiful river. Hadn't he been surrounded by if not best friends, at least good companions, hadn't he? Oh, gosh, there was again the shock. And then it was done. Just like the noise before it, the shocks suddenly stopped. Disoriented, Carl turned about in the water, no longer sure which way was up, down, forward or aft. His strong solid frame was shaken to the core. But his body knew how to calm itself. Go for air, load his heartbeat. He looked about once again. He was still alone. But thankfully, blessedly the strange sounds and shocks were no longer attacking his senses. The sun still shot overhead and the sky was still blue. Things were going to be okay. Yes, they were. All he had to do was just turn himself the right way in the river and then

and then he ran into the net. Like a million little razors the netline cut into his flesh. Carl's greened inside his head, what is going on? He swam up trying to preach the top he swims side to side but the net blocked him every way. He racked his brain France are screaming again. Why is this happening to me? He looked furtively. Right, left, left, right, up, down. Down. He started swimming. Perhaps he could go under the net if he couldn't go over it. Perhaps if he just kept pushing, he thought he thought as if his life depended on it. He fought and he pushed and he swam and he pushed and then Then he broke the surface of the water. You ride the boat. The net was tangled all about him. He gasped for air but none came none came nowhere. His body thumped on to something hard he gasped for again for air still none came a sound the sound of good thing we had that net into safety a little bugger managed to get past all the barriers. Yeah, though, I'm not sure I'd call him little he'll be some good eating for someone. little booger. Carl gasped for air that would not come because he could not breathe if he was not underwater. And as he died, Carl thought to himself vulgar. Okay, I'm not a bug at all. I'm a fish. Who eats bugs for bugs? Poulenc did that is how curl be Asian carp the brutal brutal Porcaro. Oral didn't hear that or was it? What was that?

Stuart Carlton 34:24
Yeah. I don't know, either. Yeah, I mean, these are a lot of scary things.

Carolyn Foley 34:28
I've got one more. I've got one more scary story. Okay.

Stuart Carlton 34:30
Oh, do you okay,

Carolyn Foley 34:32
yes. All right. Ready? Let's do it. Do you think you could give me like a thunderclap or something where you have a sound ready?

Stuart Carlton 34:37
Yeah, here. All right. You told me dramatic sound now. All right. One more scary story. Sure. Let me just haven't sung this one in a while so I gotta loosen up my throat

Carolyn Foley 34:49
okay that's my Sorry.

Stuart Carlton 35:02
That is a scary story. Yeah, yeah. I mean, we know you know, with climate change and stuff. There's been like a lot of, you know, controversy over it like what do we do? How do we do it right now in Purdue in fact, there's even a lot of discussion about climate change and the controversy and so I think it's important

Geneva Langeland 35:22
going on, is it getting closer Stuart?

Stuart Carlton 35:24
I think they are. What what is that

oh, no, it's cicadas, ethan and hope don't worry, we're okay. It's pretend I know. I know these bastards fight with us hope and Ethan I promise you we're fine because Bruton did not come to West Lafayette this year and so we're gonna Oh no if it's on you

teach me about the Great Lakes is produced by Noah hope charters sterile and fully Meghan loaded gun and I scream miles. Ethan I don't have a scary last name for you. But you're our associate producer and our fixer are super fun podcast artwork is by scary Joel Davenport. The show is edited by the awesome Wind Rose and I encourage you to check out her work at aspiring robot.com If you have a question about the show, please email it to teach me about the great lakes@gmail.com or leave a message on our spookily Hotline at 7655494 i s g. You can also follow us on the show, follow the show on Twitter teach Great Lakes. And of course as always, thank you for listening and keep greatin' those lakes!

and find Thomas thank you