Scientists roll out rubber mats on bottom of Lake Tahoe to thwart invasive clam infestation
Scuba-diving scientists are unrolling long rubber mats across the bottom of Lake Tahoe coves in an attempt to quell a clam invasion that could cloud the world-reknown cobalt waters.
The half-acre mats are designed to smother dime-sized nonnative Asian clams that can reach populations of 5,000 per square yard.
Geoffrey Schladow, director of the Tahoe Environmental Research Center run by the University of California, Davis, says the clams' excretions promote so much algae growth that they can turn some coves from blue to green.
The scientists carpeted one south shore bay with the rubber mats on Friday. They plan to cover another half-acre soon as part of the $1.4 million experiment.
Copyright 2010 AP News
