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</div><div style=3D"margin Hi Jim Just to clarify, those are not living mussels in the first two photos. They are single valves all oriented convex side up. I also thought they were whole mussels that had been "uprooted" from the sediment at first. But once I flipped a few over with a stick I realized they were empty single (half) shells. Nancy On 2014-05-16, at 5:31 PM, Jim (James W.) Wolford <jimwolford@eastlink.ca> wrote: > Nancy and Fred, the links worked for me for the three photos of Nancy's. The first two seem to show living mussels or ones that died without being eaten by predators like muskrats. The third photo shows opened shells of dead (and eaten?) mussels, perhaps from last year? Cheers from Jim in Wolfville. > > Begin forwarded message: > >> From: nancy dowd <nancypdowd@gmail.com> >> Date: May 16, 2014 5:10:17 PM ADT >> To: naturens@chebucto.ns.ca >> Subject: Re: [NatureNS] lots of empty FW Mussel shells- why? >> Reply-To: naturens@chebucto.ns.ca >> >> Is everyone having problems seeing the photos? The links seem to be working for me when I click on them. If so I will try to set them up again or email the pictures to anyone interested. >> >> Lots of beaver on the lake. I have never seen a muskrat swim by but that does not mean they are absent. >> >> Nancy >> On 2014-05-16, at 4:59 PM, Fred Schueler <bckcdb@istar.ca> wrote: >> >>> On 5/16/2014 1:06 PM, David McCorquodale wrote: >>>> Muskrats are important predators of freshwater mussels in eastern North >>>> America, including NS. Often they pile shells in middens. >>>> >>>> In Blacketts Lake and Pottle Lake in CBRM piles of shells of several >>>> species of freshwater mussels, including the Yellow Lamp Mussel, are >>>> obvious. >>> >>> * these URLs just took me to a general flckr site, not to the individual photos. >>> >>> Muskrats and Beavers can process astonishing numbers of mussels, and often leave the shells quite undamaged - and nonhuman mammals, with weak connections of cultural memory can "discover" a food source and use it to depletion for one generation with the descendents never learning about it, giving the prey time to build up to high density. >>> >>> Freezing or anoxia can kill mussels, though they'd die buried in the substrate, and wouldn't be expected to be on the beach this early - also low water levels can cause mass mortality. Without being able to see the pictures, I can't say what species these are, but if they're Anodonta or Pyganodon "Floaters" the light-weight shells would be more likely to work loose from the substrate and blow onto a lee shore. >>> >>> fred. >>> ============================================== >>> >>>> >>>> On Fri, May 16, 2014 at 1:35 PM, nancy dowd <nancypdowd@gmail.com >>>> <mailto:nancypdowd@gmail.com>> wrote: >>>> >>>> Water levels have dropped just enough on L Torment to show about 6" >>>> of beach in places now but the shore has been completely submerged >>>> since last October. The number of mussel shells seen in these >>>> pictures is unusual: >>>> >>>> At the end of the path they are visible as far as you can see out >>>> into the water: >>>> https://www.flickr.com/photos/92981528@N08/14196083311/ >>>> >>>> And it is this way the whole way along the shore. Another view 40' >>>> along the submerged beach: >>>> https://www.flickr.com/photos/92981528@N08/14012727849/ >>>> >>>> This side of the lake has the prevailing onshore winds and waves and >>>> the shells are starting to collect in the exposed pockets: >>>> https://www.flickr.com/photos/92981528@N08/14199406975/ >>>> >>>> Why so many empty mussel shells? Would the winter somehow have been >>>> hard on them- ice or cold or oxygen levels? Doesn't look like >>>> predation to me- too many shells. This is the first year I have ever >>>> seen anything like this. >>>> >>>> Any ideas? >>>> >>>> Nancy >>>> >>>> >>>> >>> >>> >>> -- >>> ------------------------------------------------------------ >>> Frederick W. Schueler & Aleta Karstad >>> Daily Paintings - http://karstaddailypaintings.blogspot.com/ >>> Vulnerable Watersheds - http://vulnerablewaters.blogspot.ca/ >>> study our books - http://pinicola.ca/books/index.htm >>> RR#2 Bishops Mills, Ontario, Canada K0G 1T0 >>> on the Smiths Falls Limestone Plain 44* 52'N 75* 42'W >>> (613)258-3107 <bckcdb at istar.ca> http://pinicola.ca/ >>> ------------------------------------------------------------ >> >
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