Introduced

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT: Introduced will be returning for a new season in 2024!

But in the meantime, we're sharing a fascinating, fishy episode from our friends at Points North, an award-winning podcast about the land, water and inhabitants of the Great Lakes.

In October 1960, Prince Akihito of Japan visited Chicago for 21 hours. Chicago’s mayor presented the prince with a diplomatic gift: 18 bluegill. What happened next would change the underwater world of Japan forever.

Today, we’re introducing a new podcast from Wisconsin Sea Grant called The Water We Swim In, which features stories about the Great Lakes and the people working toward equity.

On “Hidden Currents,” Bonnie Willison and Hali Jama dive beneath the water to explore why Black children are drowning more than any other race, why marginalized communities often lack access to swimming pools, and how to stay safe in the water. We hear about the alarming trend facing swimming pools in cities across the nation, relive a fight to save one Milwaukee pool, and walk the shores of Lake Michigan with the Beach Ambassador program. Join us as Brenda Coley, Jumana Tanner, Cheryl Bledsoe, Sally Callan, and Deidre Peroff discuss how racism, segregation and redlining has taken away Black people’s access to water and, essentially, the right to swim.

Find The Water We Swim In here

This week, we dive deep into two news stories that flew under the public’s radar. In the summer of 2020, individuals all over the country started receiving random packages of unsolicited and unidentified seeds. In the spring of 2021, pet stores around the country found that the moss balls on their shelves carried a notorious aquatic hitchhiker. On this episode, we talk to some of the people who devoted months of their lives to dealing with these first-of-their-kind international crises.  

Special thanks to our guests Christopher Deegan, Wesley Daniels, Amy Kretlow and Amy McGovern.  

Report a nonindigenous aquatic species - https://nas.er.usgs.gov/SightingReport.aspx

Nonindigenous Aquatic Species Database - USGS - https://nas.er.usgs.gov/queries/default.aspx

Destroy! Don’t dump! - Zebra Mussel Disposal - https://www.fws.gov/fisheries/ANS/zebra-mussel-disposal.html

Hungry pests - Leave hungry pests behind - https://www.aphis.usda.gov/aphis/resources/pests-diseases/hungry-pests/hungrypests

Zebra mussels - https://www.seagrant.wisc.edu/our-work/focus-areas/ais/invasive-species/invasive-species-fact-sheets/mollusks/zebra-mussels/

Quagga mussels - https://www.seagrant.wisc.edu/our-work/focus-areas/ais/invasive-species/invasive-species-fact-sheets/mollusks/quagga-mussel/

On August 27, 2009, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources gets a call about small lobsters crawling around a neighborhood pond in Germantown. The extent of the problem is more than anyone bargained for.

Tim Campbell, Wisconsin Sea Grant

Pete Jopke, Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources

Tim Zabel, initial sighter

Heidi Bunk, Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources

Scott Van Egeren, Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources

Doug and Mary, Esquire Estates residents

Jake Vander Zanden, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Erin Vennie-Vollrath, (former) University of Wisconsin-Madison

Chris Hamerla, Golden Sands Resource Conservation & Development

Stephanie Peay, Independent crayfish researcher

Red Swamp Crayfish

The miniscule Spiny waterflea was introduced into Madison’s Lake Mendota and lurked undetected for years. This hour, Bonnie and Sydney take a new look at a well-studied lake and try to figure out how an introduced species can float below science’s radar for so long.

Jake Walsh, Minnesota Department of Natural Resources

Dick Lathrop, Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Mike Spear, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Study: Stories of Invasive Species Often Begin with Undetected “Sleeper Populations”

Too Hot? Too Cold? Just Right? Lakes Sharing the Same Climate Can Be Worlds Apart for Invasive Species

Forget “Needle in a Haystack.” Try Finding an Invasive Species in a Lake

Tiny Invasive Species Eats Enough to Devour an Entire City

What Lies Beneath: Sudden Invasion of a Wisconsin Lake Wasn’t So Sudden After All

Wild rice faces challenges like introduced species, pollution, habitat destruction and climate change. We learn how the Sokaogon Chippewa Community cares for this wonderfully resilient being. Opinions of our guests do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Sokaogon Chippewa Community Mole Lake Band of Lake Superior Chippewa.

Sarah Dance, (former) Wisconsin Sea Grant

Melonee Montano, Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission

Nathan Podany, Sokaogon Chippewa Community

Peter McGeshick III, Sokaogon Chippewa Community

Read More About Sarah Dance’s Research

Sokaogon Chippewa Community

Manoomin Education and Outreach Toolkit

Sydney debriefs Bonnie on what it was like to filet her very first fish, which happened to be a silver carp.

Cooking Silver Carp

Canines Betty White and Ernie are training to detect the scent of New Zealand Mudsnail, and Sydney goes bow hunting for flying carp. Also, we talk to a group that is trying to make carp burgers the next popular tailgating food.

Laura Holder, Conservation Dogs Collective

Amy Wagnitz, (former) Conservation Dogs Collective

Betty White and Ernie, Conservation Dogs Collective

Captain Nate Wallick, Peoria Carp Hunters

Chris Litzau, Great Lakes Community Conservation Corps

New Zealand Mud Snail

Silver Carp

Water Hyacinth

Asian carp – Silverfin™

Why Does the State of Illinois Want to Rename Asian Carp? Racism and Economics

Pacific salmon were introduced into the Great Lakes to control nuisance alewives. Now, alewives and salmon are both being challenged by a new wave of introduced species.

Barb Carey, WI Women Fish, Women Ice Angler Project

Brad Eggold, Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources

Titus Seilheimer, Wisconsin Sea Grant

WI Women Fish

Women Ice Angler Project

Root River Steelhead Facility

Automated Marking & Tagging Trailer