Pennsylvania Sea Grant, Mansfield University and the Army Corps of Engineers are offering a special training session for volunteers interested in joining the Pennsylvania Zebra and Quagga Mussel Monitoring Network.

The meeting will be held on May 17 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Mansfield University of Pennsylvania, Mansfield, Pa.

Volunteers will be asked to visit a high risk location, such as a public boat launch or downstream from a known source of mussels, and report the presence or absence of mussels each month of the warm season (until about October). No prior experience is needed - just an interest in protecting our local waterways. All materials including a DVD training video and monitoring manual will be provided.

Why is monitoring important? Zebra and quagga mussels can cause great harm to the economy, aquatic ecosystems, and native clam and mussel populations. Zebra mussels have shown-up in the Finger Lakes Region of New York and more recently in the Cowanesque Lake in Tioga County, Pennsylvania.

Since their discovery in the lake last May, Pennsylvania Sea Grant has been working with the Army Corps to alert visitors to take precautions to reduce the risk of transporting the zebras to new locations.

Only a few of Pennsylvania’s 12,000 lakes and 84,000 miles of streams are infested with invasive mussels. The Pennsylvania Zebra and Quagga Monitoring Network is sponsored by the Department of Environmental Protection and Pennsylvania Sea Grant, with the assistance of a host of partners, to help slow the spread of invasive mussels in the Commonwealth’s rivers, streams and lakes.

Monitors are needed so that water users may be alerted to take proper prevention measures; whenever invasive mussels are found at a new location, an alarm is sounded so appropriate steps can be taken - for example - to warn visitors and recreational boaters leaving an infested location to properly clean equipment and gear.

Zebra mussels have been present in the Great Lakes since the mid-1980s when they were introduced by freighters that had filled their ballast tanks with infested water in Eastern Europe. Since then, zebra mussels have been transported to many other waterways in the United States and have caused environmental havoc and millions of dollars in property damage.

Adult zebra mussels are small clam-like animals that can grow to about two-inches long. As the name suggests, most have a zebra-striped pattern on the shell. However, some have faint bands. Microscopic larval zebra mussels, called veligers, are free floating for the first month of life before they attach to hard surfaces.

Zebra mussels are capable of harming native mussels and disrupting food chains by devouring the algae (microscopic aquatic plants) that support native mussels and fish. They can also clog utility pipes and industrial water intakes. In North America, zebra mussels have few predators and multiply very rapidly. Because zebra and quagga mussels are mobile and are transported in many ways, they have great potential to proliferate.

There is a very good chance that zebra mussels hitch-hiked a lift into the Cowanesque Lake attached to a boat or trailer that visited an infested lake before launching. Adult zebra mussels can stick to the hull of a boat or any hard underwater surface.

A boat moving from one body of water to another may also carry larval veligers which can’t be seen by the naked eye. Veligers can survive and be transported in standing water found in the live well, bilge, boat decking, trailer frame, or a marine toilet.

Invasive mussels can also settle on any hard surface and rapidly reduce the inside diameter of an intake pipe or fill in the spaces in an outboard motor, blocking the flow of air or water. This can ultimately cause the motor to overheat.

Boaters, anglers, water-skiers, scuba divers, and canoeists are urged to take the following precautions to help prevent the spread zebra mussels and other aquatic invasive species:

· While boating, avoid traveling through aquatic plants;

· Before leaving a body of water, remove all visible plants, fish, animals, and mud. Drain all water from the boat, trailer and all other fishing and boating equipment before leaving the water body;

· Before traveling to a new body of water, use a power washer to clean your boat and trailer. Alternatively, allow the boat, trailer, and other gear to thoroughly dry for a minimum of five days; and

· Always dispose of unused bait in a trash can. Do not release live bait into the wild.

To register for the workshop, send an e-mail with your name, address, phone number, and e-mail address to: Ann Faulds, Pennsylvania Sea Grant, afaulds@psu.edu or you can mail to Ann Faulds, 1350 Edgmont Avenue, Suite 2570, Chester, PA 19013 or call 215-806-0894. Lunch will be provided.

For questions or more information, visit the Monitoring Network webpage or contact Ann Faulds, 215-806-0894, or send email to: afaulds@psu.edu .

3/28/2008