Mussel-sniffing canines will be used by public officials at Lopez Lake to aid in limiting the spread of the invasive zebra and quagga mussels on July 3 and 4.
A press release from the San Luis Obispo County Department of Public Works states that ‘mussel dogs’ are trained to sniff watercraft and alert handlers of any invasive mussel presence, helping to expedite boat inspections.
"Mussel dogs will be assisting our rangers," said Barrie Valencia, a Water Systems Laboratory Technician at the San Luis Obispo County Water Quality Laboratory. Mussel-sniffing canines "can smell juvenile mussels that we can't even see," Valencia added.
This new measure comes in addition to preexisting watercraft inspections, which monitor all San Luis Obispo County lakes to prevent the spread of invasive mussel species. Any vessel which has visited a mussel-infested lake in the last 30 days or fails the mussel inspection is forbidden from entering Lake Lopez.
Lakes throughout California have experienced outbreaks of these species through infested watercraft and fish hatcheries.
Once they occur, infestations are difficult and expensive to manage. "One mussel can lay up to a million eggs per spawning season," explained Valencia. Once introduced, invasive mussel populations can harm watercraft, present dangers to water treatment facilities, and disrupt the food chain by absorbing necessary aquatic nutrients and poisoning waterfowl and other organisms which consume them.
According to data from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, the most recent zebra or quagga mussel discovery in a California water body was in the Foothill Feeder Pressure Control Structure on February 10, 2023. The facility is connected to Castaic Lake, a previous site of quagga mussels.
To prevent the inadvertent spread of zebra and quagga mussels, San Luis Obispo County officials and the California Department of Fish and Wildlife recommend boaters use the ‘Clean, Drain, Dry’ technique. Mussels are reported to feel like sandpaper to the touch and vessels should be inspected for mussels on all exposed surfaces. The county press release also advises boaters to wash their vessels’ hulls carefully, “remove all plant and animal material, drain and dry all areas (including the lower outboard unit), clean and dry all live-wells, dispose of any unused bait in the trash, [and] empty and dry any buckets and compartments.”
