Fourth of July 2023 Issue

WORDS OF
A FEATHER
“You’re Gonna Need
a Bigger Boat”
Story and photo by HEATHER SHIRLEY
Ahh, summer in New Jersey. There’s not
much better than it, is there?
Long days full of sunshine lure us out on the
lake and down to the shore. Both are fantastic
destinations. Both present unique, complex
ecosystems that are vibrant and wondrous.
An ecosystem describes “a community of
living and non-living things that work together,”
according to PBS. The size of the community
doesn’t matter; complete ecosystems can be
found in a single tide pool, a lake, a terrarium on
your desk or different zones of the ocean (tidal,
deep water, etc.)
Every aspect of an ecosystem works together,
in balance, to keep the community thriving,
including air, soil, plant matter and a variety of
animals. Among the most important animals are
predators, especially apex predators, which sit at
the top of the food chain.
Studies repeatedly show that when these
predators are removed or depleted, the entire
ecosystem fails. (The Natural Resources Defense
Council offers good information about this
phenomenon. Go to www.nrdc.org/sites/
default/files/predatorimportance.pdf to learn
more.)
If predators are thriving, it means an ecosystem
is also thriving. Given this, I thought it would
be interesting to learn more about the aquatic
predators of our favorite summer destinations.
In the Musconetcong watershed, which
encompasses Lake Hopatcong, the apex aquatic
predator is a fish known as a muskellunge or
“muskie” for short.
Though not good for eating, these amazing
creatures are coveted game fish, therefore, catch
and release practices are encouraged.
Though muskellunge are not native to New
Jersey, they were first reported here in 1900, in
Greenwood Lake, according to the United States
Geological Survey. According to Laurie Murphy,
38
LAKE HOPATCONG NEWS Fourth of July 2023
owner of Dow’s Boat Rental in Jefferson, the
muskie is fished regularly by a handful of local
fishermen on Lake Hopatcong.
These elusive fish are strikingly beautiful, with
elongated silvery bodies that can be covered on
their sides with stripes, spots or almost leopardlooking
patterns. Muskies average 2 to 4 feet
in length and 15 to 35 pounds, although some
record holders have been twice that size.
They have tremendous, long jaws with large
canine teeth. These fish prefer clear waters and
establish two ranges in summer, one shallower
and warmer, the other deeper and cooler. They
patrol both, regularly searching for food.
Almost anything constitutes their prey; any
fish (including other muskies), muskrats, mice,
rats, frogs, even ducks. They can eat prey that is
two-thirds their body size. Yowza!
Muskies spawn in late spring, and the young
grow to 12 inches long by November of their
first year. As young fish they are vulnerable to
a variety of other predators, but as adults, only
humans and bald eagles pose a threat.
They typically live for 12 to 18 years, and there
are records of 30-year-old muskies. Makes you
want to get out your fishing rod, right?
Or are you instead rethinking a swim in the
lake? Are you tempted to drive to seaside points
south, instead?
Of course, in the ocean, the apex predators
are sharks. New Jersey’s bays and marshes serve
as nurseries for three species of sharks: the
smooth dogfish, the sand tiger shark and the
sandbar shark. Of these, sandbar sharks are the
most common.
Each species gives birth to live young in places
like Little Egg Harbor and Barnegat Bay. The
juveniles, also called pups, are then abandoned
and left to manage on their own.
The pups take refuge hiding in the grasses
of estuaries. There they hunt for fish and
crustaceans, growing until they’re large enough
to try out the open ocean.
Young sharks that survive this initial foray into
the Atlantic usually return to the sanctuary of
their youth. They spend another year there in
relative safety, eating, growing and developing
the skills necessary to survive.
Once they leave their estuary home for good,
they spend their life at sea, only returning to the
bays to birth more pups.
In addition to the breeding species of sharks,
New Jersey waters also host annual visiting shark
species such as the hammerhead, basking, mako,
thresher and the big guy himself, the great white.
Whether lauded by Discovery Channel’s Shark
Week or vilified by Hollywood and uninformed
people, sharks fascinate us. Given that, it would
seem we would want to do more to protect
them.
But like so much of our wildlife and natural
resources, sharks and their ecosystems are under
threat from more frequent storms and sea level
rise. Both affect salinity and stability of fragile
Top to bottom:
The author shot
this photo at an
aquarium.
Lake Hopatcong’s
Bob Neals
caught a muskie
beneath the ice
at Monksville
Reservoir in
January, 1997.
Photo from NJDEP
website.
ecosystems. The Nature Conservancy, thankfully,
is making promising strides to combat this and
hopes to expand its progress to more areas of
New Jersey and beyond.
So, gentle readers, enjoy the lovely summer
days. And as you cool off and swim or dangle
your feet in the lake or ocean, try not to think
about what lurks below.
Dunnn dunn…duuuunnn dunn…duuuunnn
dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun
duuuunnn dun!
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