Wakeboarding Research Paper
Wakeboarding Makes Waves of Impacts on Whitefish Lake I grew up spending time in nature and falling in love with it. In particular, I loved spending time on and around lakes. My favorite lake is Lower Whitefish Lake in Crosslake, MN which is part of the bigger Whitefish Chain of Lakes. I spend a lot of time in the summer waterskiing, wakeboarding, sailing, and canoeing on Whitefish and also swimming in it. I love to take in the natural, fairly untouched beauty of Whitefish. While I am enjoying the fact that whitefish is relatively unaltered by the humans, I am impacting the environment though. I have always loved the feeling that I get when I’m around Whitefish Lake. The feeling that I’m in pure nature that hasn’t been touched by humans. I feel clean after emerging from the lake water, whether it is after
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a swim in the lake, climbing into the boat after a wakeboarding run or after a capsizing of my sailboat. According to the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency Whitefish Lake is “Suitable for swimming and wading, with good clarity and low algae levels” (“Whitefish”). The lake has an average depth of 10.3 feet (“fisheries”) which means you can see the bottom of the lake in most swimming areas, giving you a sense of cleanliness. These reports from state agencies confirm what I could tell from spending so much time on the lake. But these reports also show the threats that the average lake enthusiast like me can’t easily tell from looking at the lake. From 1975-2014 water clarity has gone down an average of .62 feet per decade and the general trend predicts a decrease of between 1.04 and 0.21 feet per decade in the long-term (“Whitefish”). Water clarity is an excellent indicator of water quality. This means the quality of the lake water is diminishing. It has also been confirmed by the MN DNR that Whitefish Lake has Zebra Mussels, an invasive species that harms lake ecosystems (LakeFinder). These Zebra Mussels were transported to the lake by boaters and the water quality has gone down largely because of activities such as the ones I engage in. The activities I participate in that hurt Whitefish Lake the most are wakeboarding and waterskiing.
I love to try all watersports that involve being pulled behind a boat including, waterskiing, wakeboarding, wakesurfing, wakeskating, barefoot waterskiing, trick skiing, tubing, and disking. All of these activities have a similar impact on the lake because of the boat that is pulling me, so I will talk about them from the general term of wakeboarding because it is my favorite of the activities. The speedboats used for wakeboarding emit hydrocarbons into the lake, the ground water, and the atmosphere (“Water skiing”). Gases and particulates escape from the engine and make their way into the lake water. Wakeboarding boats can also release potentially toxic heavy metals into the water (“Water skiing”). These chemical finds their way into fish swimming in the water and cause some fish to be dangerous to eat. Fish such as Bass, Walleye, and Northern Pikes in Whitefish Lake have unsafe levels of mercury in their tissue due to these chemicals (“Fisheries”). The emission of chemicals, gases, and metals by boats hurt the water and air supply around the
lake. Wakeboarding also affects the lake in ways that don’t involve emissions. Boat wakes cause erosion and degradation of shoreline and wakeboard boats are even worse in this respect. Wakeboard boats use ballast to make a bigger wake in order for the wakeboarder to do tricks off of the wake. This larger wake is even more detrimental to shores. Wakeboard boats and the people on them also cause noise pollution and can disturb wildlife and birds. Wakeboarding and Waterskiing are some of my favorite ways of enjoying Whitefish Lake, but they are also the way that I hurt Whitefish Lake the most. This leads me to the question: do I love my lake enough that I would give up my favorite lake activity in order to protect that lake? A better question might be is there a way to both enjoy my lake activities and protect Whitefish Lake?
a swim in the lake, climbing into the boat after a wakeboarding run or after a capsizing of my sailboat. According to the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency Whitefish Lake is “Suitable for swimming and wading, with good clarity and low algae levels” (“Whitefish”). The lake has an average depth of 10.3 feet (“fisheries”) which means you can see the bottom of the lake in most swimming areas, giving you a sense of cleanliness. These reports from state agencies confirm what I could tell from spending so much time on the lake. But these reports also show the threats that the average lake enthusiast like me can’t easily tell from looking at the lake. From 1975-2014 water clarity has gone down an average of .62 feet per decade and the general trend predicts a decrease of between 1.04 and 0.21 feet per decade in the long-term (“Whitefish”). Water clarity is an excellent indicator of water quality. This means the quality of the lake water is diminishing. It has also been confirmed by the MN DNR that Whitefish Lake has Zebra Mussels, an invasive species that harms lake ecosystems (LakeFinder). These Zebra Mussels were transported to the lake by boaters and the water quality has gone down largely because of activities such as the ones I engage in. The activities I participate in that hurt Whitefish Lake the most are wakeboarding and waterskiing.
I love to try all watersports that involve being pulled behind a boat including, waterskiing, wakeboarding, wakesurfing, wakeskating, barefoot waterskiing, trick skiing, tubing, and disking. All of these activities have a similar impact on the lake because of the boat that is pulling me, so I will talk about them from the general term of wakeboarding because it is my favorite of the activities. The speedboats used for wakeboarding emit hydrocarbons into the lake, the ground water, and the atmosphere (“Water skiing”). Gases and particulates escape from the engine and make their way into the lake water. Wakeboarding boats can also release potentially toxic heavy metals into the water (“Water skiing”). These chemical finds their way into fish swimming in the water and cause some fish to be dangerous to eat. Fish such as Bass, Walleye, and Northern Pikes in Whitefish Lake have unsafe levels of mercury in their tissue due to these chemicals (“Fisheries”). The emission of chemicals, gases, and metals by boats hurt the water and air supply around the
lake. Wakeboarding also affects the lake in ways that don’t involve emissions. Boat wakes cause erosion and degradation of shoreline and wakeboard boats are even worse in this respect. Wakeboard boats use ballast to make a bigger wake in order for the wakeboarder to do tricks off of the wake. This larger wake is even more detrimental to shores. Wakeboard boats and the people on them also cause noise pollution and can disturb wildlife and birds. Wakeboarding and Waterskiing are some of my favorite ways of enjoying Whitefish Lake, but they are also the way that I hurt Whitefish Lake the most. This leads me to the question: do I love my lake enough that I would give up my favorite lake activity in order to protect that lake? A better question might be is there a way to both enjoy my lake activities and protect Whitefish Lake?