"Whiting Event at Pyramid Lake"

I was poking around the "net" and came across this development regarding Pyramid Lake.

It appears to be a once in 7-12 year event @ Pyramid and follows an algae bloom event.

Here's a couple of links to click on to check it out.


https://twitter.com/plpt

https://www.ktvn.com/clip/15116468/w...t-pyramid-lake


Have any of you "Pyramid old timers" seen this "Whiting Event" in the past ??????

It appears to be benign and clears up on its own. :confused::confused:

Hopefully it clears up before the "Opener"............... whatever date in the future that may be...........................:confused::confused:: confused:



Bob

Never heard till now......

I would say the guys at the Reno Fly Shop might know.....

According to the news person in the video, it's caused by "....a planktonic bloom". Probably will disappear when the water cools....

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Darian

According to the news person in the video, it's caused by "....a planktonic bloom". Probably will disappear when the water cools....

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Yep................... agreed......................... probably will disappear when the water cools....

I was just wondering if anyone ever remembers a "Whiting Event" at Pyramid since it's suppose to happen every 7-12 years.

Anyone ????? Bueller ?????


Bob

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Darian

According to the news person in the video, it's caused by "....a planktonic bloom". Probably will disappear when the water cools....

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This is caused by a plankton bloom that consumes carbon dioxide and results in the raising of the pH of the water (carbon dioxide in solution is carbonic acid). This in turn causes calcium carbonate to precipitate out of the water into a chalky colored soup. As the bloom ends the lake will return to its normal carbonic acid level which will allow the calcium carbonate to once again return into solution. I saw this once sometime in the mid 80's.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Ralph

This is caused by a plankton bloom that consumes carbon dioxide and results in the raising of the pH of the water (carbon dioxide in solution is carbonic acid). This in turn causes calcium carbonate to precipitate out of the water into a chalky colored soup. As the bloom ends the lake will return to its normal carbonic acid level which will allow the calcium carbonate to once again return into solution. I saw this once sometime in the mid 80's.

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Ahhhh, an eyewitness account. :cool::cool:

Thank you for chiming in Ralph.:cool::cool:

I'm assuming that "the one time you saw it in the mid 80's", was at Pyramid ?????:confused::confused:

Sounds like the "Whiting Event" at Pyramid may be more of a once in a thirty to forty year event..............

Googling "Whiting Event" didn't reveal much information regarding Pyramid Lake and the "suppose to happen every 7-12 years".



Seems like this is almost in the category of a "Bigfoot Sighting".................................. :p:p:p



Bob

Quote:

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Originally Posted by BS

Ahhhh, an eyewitness account. :cool::cool:

Thank you for chiming in Ralph.:cool::cool:

I'm assuming that "the one time you saw it in the mid 80's", was at Pyramid ?????:confused::confused:

Sounds like the "Whiting Event" at Pyramid may be more of a once in a thirty to forty year event..............

Googling "Whiting Event" didn't reveal much information regarding Pyramid Lake and the "suppose to happen every 7-12 years".



Seems like this is almost in the category of a "Bigfoot Sighting".................................. :p:p:p



Bob

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Yes, at Pyramid. It probably happens to some degree at other lakes where the water is nearly saturated with calcium carbonate. Mono Lake and Walker Lake come to mind. This is an assumption, I've never seen it outside of Pyramid.

"Algae" blooms are pretty cool. I used to make a point of scuba diving in waters during bloom. On calm days you can get under the layer of phytoplankton and the water can be very clear but the filtered light gives an emerald green spatial cast without shadows or varying intensities of light. . .kind of similar to diving under ice or walking through fog. When columnar algae are suspended vertically you can look straight up and the sky and hills are very visible, but looking horizontally is like being in green pea soup. People get discouraged by algae blooms, but if the wind isn't stirring things up, a sinking line might take your fly into the clear depths where fish are often actively feeding. Had some fantastic days fishing alone at Martis when everyone left just because the water looked polluted.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Ralph

Yes, at Pyramid. It probably happens to some degree at other lakes where the water is nearly saturated with calcium carbonate. Mono Lake and Walker Lake come to mind. This is an assumption, I've never seen it outside of Pyramid.

"Algae" blooms are pretty cool. I used to make a point of scuba diving in waters during bloom. On calm days you can get under the layer of phytoplankton and the water can be very clear but the filtered light gives an emerald green spatial cast without shadows or varying intensities of light. . .kind of similar to diving under ice or walking through fog. When columnar algae are suspended vertically you can look straight up and the sky and hills are very visible, but looking horizontally is like being in green pea soup. People get discouraged by algae blooms, but if the wind isn't stirring things up, a sinking line might take your fly into the clear depths where fish are often actively feeding. Had some fantastic days fishing alone at Martis when everyone left just because the water looked polluted.

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Yep, I'd think that Walker and Mono would be good candidates for a "Whiting Event" too.

Thanks for "chiming in" and giving a really good explanation/accounting of the "Pyramid Whiting Event"...... and your observations of/with algae blooms too.


I wasn't running around claiming that "the sky was falling", but was quite intrigued with the "Pyramid Whiting Event" being that I never heard of it and there seemed to very few that have.


Hummmm..............gotta' file this one away in the gray-matter file cabinet.........what's left of it. :D:D


Thanks again Ralph and catch a bunch of fish where ever you are now. :cool::cool:



Bob

No worries, I am not the most positive person at the moment, but realistically do not expect Pyramid will open to the public anyways in the coming season. My 2c.