The Lake That Sustains the Journey

Migration, Wildlife, Water, and People in the Great Salt Lake Basin

Autumn at the Great Salt Lake is more than a change of color. It is a change of travelers.

Along the shore of Antelope Island, bison and pronghorn remain as the season turns. Above them, an American White Pelican recalls the summer breeding season now drawing to a close, while flocks of Tundra Swans begin returning to the wetlands of the Great Salt Lake. More than 30,000 Tundra Swans can begin arriving at the Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge in mid-October, part of the immense seasonal movement of birds through this basin. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

On the water, Eared Grebes reveal another part of the story. Millions can use the Great Salt Lake, and during their fall migration they molt, becoming temporarily flightless while depending heavily on the lake's brine shrimp for food. An individual grebe may consume 25,000 to 30,000 brine shrimp in a day as it builds the reserves needed to continue its migration. Utah Division of Wildlife Resources

That dependence reaches all the way down to the chemistry of the lake. When lake levels fall, salinity can rise. Increased salinity can affect the algae that support brine shrimp and brine flies and can directly limit brine shrimp growth and reproduction. Changes that begin with water and salt can therefore move through the food web to the birds whose journeys depend upon it. Utah Division of Wildlife Resources

The exposed playa carries another message. As water retreats, more lakebed is uncovered. Most exposed sediments are stabilized by crusts, but some areas can produce windblown dust. Those sediments contain naturally occurring and human-associated metals, including arsenic, lead, mercury and others, while scientists continue studying how much of those materials is transported in airborne dust and what that means for surrounding communities. Utah Department of Environmental Quality

* The city beyond the water is therefore not simply background.

* Wildlife, water and people occupy the same basin.

* The pelican departs.

* The swans arrive.

The grebes feed and prepare for the journey ahead.

* Bison and pronghorn remain on the island as they have through countless seasonal changes.

* At the center of all of them is the lake.

The Great Salt Lake sustains journeys measured in thousands of miles, lives rooted permanently along its shores, and human communities sharing its water, air and future. Protecting the lake is not only about preserving a landscape. It is about sustaining the interconnected life of an entire basin.

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