Crater Lake blocks diving, worried about invasive species
GRANTS PASS, Ore. (AP) — National park officials on Wednesday temporarily closed Crater Lake to scuba diving over the threat that invasive species could muddy one of the clearest natural bodies of water in the world.
The closure will remain in effect while rules are developed to be sure species including plants, water fleas, quagga mussels and viruses don't hitchhike into the pristine lake waters on diving gear, said park Superintendent Craig Ackerman.
Though only about 10 people a year dive in the lake, it is becoming more popular, park officials said. The September issue of Travel + Leisure magazine listed Crater Lake as the nation's top lake scuba diving destination, despite the fact divers have to carry their gear down a long steep trail to reach the water.
"The amount of use we are talking about is small," said park aquatic ecologist Mark Buktenica. "The risk is pretty small because of that. But the consequences could be quite high."
Lying in the caldera created by the collapse of a huge volcano more than 7,000 years ago, Crater Lake is the nation's deepest and clearest lake. It currently holds the world record for water clarity — 140 to 142 feet of visibility straight down, Ackerman said.
Buktenica is already dealing with rainbow trout, kokanee salmon, and crawfish introduced into the lake by park staff more than a century ago in an attempt to increase the attraction to tourists.
The trout eat a native newt, which already has a tough time making a living. The salmon eat zooplankton, which affects the balance of microscopic plant life in the lake. And the fish and crawfish defecate in the lake, providing nutrients to other organisms. All this affects the water clarity, Buktenica said.
"Famous last words are, 'That won't survive here,'" Ackerman said. "They said that about the rainbow trout and (kokanee) salmon introduced in the lake. They need running water to reproduce. They haven't stocked the lake since 1940. Unless those are 70-year-old trout in the lake, they found a way to survive."
Park officials are considering requiring divers to get a free permit before going in the lake, which would offer a chance to clean their gear of any invasive species and educate divers about the different demands of diving at high altitude. The lake surface is at 6,173 feet.
Cleaning gear in saltwater or chlorinated water, and letting it fully dry, would be all that is required to kill hitchhiking organisms, Buktenica said.
"We have the advantage of having a one-way access point into the lake," Ackerman said. "It's much easier to prevent an infestation than it is to deal with it."
Bend dive shop owner Walt Bolton said he has dived the lake about 10 times, and he organizes dives with others.
"There is very little aquatic life because there is not much nutrient in the water, but the blues, the colors are just gorgeous," he said. "It's the serenity. It's a beautiful place."
His main concern about permits is if divers have to drive down to park headquarters to get them, because the drop in elevation defeats the high-altitude acclimation they go through to be safe, he said.
Sounds like the same reasoning that made using felt soled wading shoes illegal.
I would think that the water is too cold for invasive species to thrive.
 @theobserver You've obviously never been in the great lakes, where the invasive species thrive in really cold water.
I hear Blue Lake has also banned diving on the off chance that some clear pure water might hitchhike in on diving gear.
There is already too much activity on the lake. I visited a few weeks ago and was surprised at all the activity, boats, etc.  Years ago the only boat allowed on the lake was related to scientific study. Now you can take boat tours. My personal preference would be to preserve this pristine natural wonder and keep human activity off the lake except for scientific study. There really isn't anything that can't be seen from the rim drive and too many people are one time visitors and simply don't care what happens after they leave. The world is full of unintended "accidents" where non-native species destroyed the native environment. Leave the lake to be observed from the rim, and do not make it a human playground.
Wouldn't it be easier to bring in some non-native species and release them into the lake? Â That sounds more likely when compared to some species being left on 10 person's scuba equipment...
Hmmm...I can't think of a more invasive species than man.
mandatory bleach dunk tank
 @iamright555 Sorry, you're not dunking expensive dive gear in bleach.  And even if you did, I'm sure they'd complain that the bleach is on a list of chemicals that would be harmful to the lake.
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Read down further in the list and read what @dkgiovenco had to say. Â He's spot on in his response to this story.
 @pdxtvguy  @iamright555  @dkgiovencoÂ
Bleach rinses out completely.Â
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 I clean my dear after every dive . But having said that , hey already made it very difficult to dive there with the no vehicle rule. I don t really want to hump down 100 pounds of gear that far to the water. Still. The feds are being extremely stupid on this. Must  be Liberals behind this new regulationâ¦â¦
 @Civ Years ago, we went down the path to the boat dock at Crater Lake. If I remember correctly, it was a steep zig-zag path. It would be difficult packing diving gear down to the dock, and a definite pain in the a** coming back up with all that stuff.
 @CivHow is protecting a natural resource like Crater Lake from invasive species being Liberal? Are you a Clownservative?
 @Civ Only a fool would turn this into a political debate of keeping Crater Lake clean..
I'm very liberal and find people with their conservative ideas are hypocrites, liars and thieves..
And now we can ad lazy to this list since you can't carry gear 100 feet...
I am definitely not a fan of government bureaucracy "shutting down" our natural areas. That said, I would advise any nay-sayers to hold their remarks until after they do some research on critters and algae liek zebra mussles, NZ mudsnails, Didymo, etc. How lovely would Crater Lake be when coated with rock snot. Some sort of preventive measures will have to be set in place.
@coltarms If the water was going to be contaminated with an invasive species , It would have happened by now. Besides Salt water critters dot live well in fresh water and most divers dont run from lake to lake diving.
 @Civ  @coltarms Maybe so, but not everyone dives is strictly salt water, and given the number of of foreign ships that visit our harbors and rivers, there is a likelihood that it can happen. What's wrong with using a little caution as opposed to discovering too late that we've been invaded by some species that happens to take a particular liking to the clean water?
The state of Oregon is probably getting ready to sell the lake to China. So we cannot pollute this valuable asset.
Being a retired Dive Master, this is a bunch of BS, to a certain extent.  All the SCUBA gear that the diver in the picture is wearing is valued over several thousand dollars. So after each dive set is complete we completely clean and rinse our gear. BUT, and I guess this is where the idiot policy come into place, a Scuba Diver could do a dive in lets say Lake Washington in Washington throw all of their gear in the car speed all the way down to Crater Lake and have something from Lake Washington still in their gear. The odds of that happening, minuscule.  I would bet there would be a better chance of someone brining in that live bait again when they are not supposed to and letting it run amuck.
@dkgiovenco Your points are well taken but there are countless examples of the "unintended consequence" created by humans that forever altered the natural environment. While the odds may be "miniscule" it only takes one event to change the course of history.Â
SO the National Park Service wants to be the ones responsible for keeping the lake safe from outside species, Even though they are responsible for the three biggest threats currently in the lake........ How does this make sense?
 @ToyotaMafia Big difference in how things are done now and how they were done more than a century ago when those three were released into Crater Lake.
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It sounds like if this is done right they could come in, do the free permit thing (then they know who is down there and gives a chance to clean everything), and then they can go acclimate to the altitude while the gear dries. With the problems so many areas are having because of some of these nasty threats that were brought in by one initial source, I don't think being careful is a bad idea. The ban on diving is only temporary while they put together a plan, which seems like a good idea if more people are going to start coming because of that article.
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If they didn't do something and an invasive species ended up in there and made the lake a mess, people would be throwing a fit because they didn't do something. Taking a little break and investigating a good way to keep it clear may inconvenience the "10 people" who would dive, but letting something happen to it would affect a lot more people than that.