Algae & blooms
What triggers cyanobacteria, how to read a bloom risk, and why one side of the lake can be green while the other is clear.
Field science & expert opinion
Lake Whisperer
Long-form reads on blooms, clarity, invasives, and the science behind the readings.
What you'll find here
Science translated for the dock.
Lake Whisperer is where our team — limnologists, data scientists, and field researchers — publish what we're learning from lakes across the country. No press releases. No jargon without explanation. Just honest insight into how lakes work and how to read what yours is saying.
Nutrients & chemistry
Phosphorus, nitrogen, dissolved oxygen, and the chemistry that drives a lake's trajectory from season to season.
Invasive species
eDNA, early detection, and the science of knowing what's in your lake before it becomes a headline.
How to read your data
Plain-English guides to Secchi depth, trophic state, temperature profiles, and what the numbers actually mean.
Start here
The four essential lake guides
Algae Blooms and Swimming Safety: What Results Can and Cannot Tell You
How to tell harmful blooms from harmless algae, what bloom and bacteria results can and cannot tell you, and what to do in the first 24 hours.
Read the guideWater Clarity and Nutrients: Why Your Lake Looks the Way It Does
How clarity, phosphorus, nitrogen, oxygen, and algae relate, and how to tell a real trend from a bad week.
Read the guideHow to Run a Lake Monitoring Program
What to measure, where, how often, and who does it: building a record your association can carry forward.
Read the guideInvasive Species in Lakes: Prevention, Detection, and Response
How invasive species arrive, which ones matter most, how to detect them early, and what to do when a detection happens.
Read the guideFrom the notebook
Recent dispatches
September 24, 2026
Can We Eat the Fish in This Lake?
Why fish advisories come from tissue testing rather than water quality, what drives them, and how to sample fish so the results mean something.
Read the article
September 22, 2026
Measure Your Lake Before Something Goes Wrong
By the time a lake looks wrong, the problem usually started years earlier. Why to measure while nothing appears wrong, and how to make it a habit.
Read the article
September 21, 2026
Which DNA Test Should Your Lake Start With? A Sensible Order for Genetic Monitoring
Census first, then watch the doors, then confirm before you act: a sensible order for Lake Census, Species Watch, Live Census, and Live Watch.
Read the article
September 21, 2026
The Invasive in Your Lake Has Been There for Years
By the time anyone can see it, eradication is off the table. Everything in invasive species management follows from that.
Read the article
September 8, 2026
Snakeheads Are Spreading. Here's What Lake Communities Should Actually Do About It.
How to identify a northern snakehead, what to do if one turns up in your water, and why the fish is usually well established by the time anyone reports it.
Read the article
August 16, 2026
You Can Find an Invasive Species Before You Can See It
Molecular detection finds an invasive species long before anyone can see it. How eDNA works, what it cannot tell you, and why non-detection is worth paying for.
Read the article
August 14, 2026
Your Lake Turns Over Twice a Year and Nobody Notices
Deep lakes split into layers that do not mix for half the year. Stratification, turnover, and why the bottom of your lake runs out of oxygen every August.
Read the article
July 8, 2026
What Does Lake Testing Actually Cost?
Nobody publishes lake testing prices, so communities assume it is unaffordable. The honest ranges, what drives them, and the mistake that actually wastes money.
Read the article
July 1, 2026
One Data Point Is an Anecdote
Lake data has almost no value as a snapshot and enormous value as a series. What each additional year of monitoring buys you, and why the most expensive year is the one you skipped.
Read the article
June 30, 2026
Your Lake Nearly Suffocates Every Night
Oxygen in your lake swings every 24 hours and bottoms out before dawn. Why fish kills happen at 5 a.m., and why a midday reading tells you almost nothing.
Read the article
June 21, 2026
Phosphorus Is the Whole Story. Also, It Isn't.
Phosphorus drives algae growth, but the total number is a poor predictor. Available versus bound phosphorus, internal loading, and why watershed fixes sometimes change nothing.
Read the article
June 11, 2026
Every Winter's Road Salt Is Still in Your Lake
Chloride from road salt never leaves your lake. Why that makes it the cleanest watershed indicator available, and how salt quietly becomes an algae problem.
Read the article
June 3, 2026
The Cheapest Instrument in Limnology Is a Dinner Plate
A black-and-white disc invented in 1865 is still one of the most valuable instruments a lake community can own. What it measures, what it cannot, and why consistency beats precision.
Read the article
June 2, 2026
Is It Safe to Swim?
Clear water can still be unsafe, and the fact that nobody got sick last week proves nothing. What actually determines whether a lake is safe to swim in.
Read the articleAlso from Lake Pulse
Dockside
The community news desk: how lake associations are putting shared data to work, what's new in the app, Portal, Toolbox and Boathouse, and field stories from neighbors doing the work.
- Association stories
- Product updates
- Field notes
- Company news
