TIMES HERALD THE VILLAGE
STONY BROOK • OLD FIELD • STRONG’S NECK • SETAUKET • EAST SETAUKET • SOUTH SETAUKET • POQUOT T April 16, 2015
Volume 40, No. 7
Huntington Arts Council presents ‘I See Me’
Also: ’Jesus Christ Superstar’ at the CMPAC, Mary Louise Booth House
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Looking at the lake Photos by Phil Corso
Above, Darcy Lonsdale guides her students from Stony Brook University’s School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences on the docks at Lake Ronkonkoma, where they compiled data Tuesday to study its capacity of hosting marine life. Below, Canada geese remain one of the greater environmental threats facing Long Island’s largest freshwater lake, as their waste acts as a pollutant in and around the water.
Patriots fall to perfect Middle Country team Girls’ lax team gives undefeated Mad Dogs a run for their money
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Stony Brook students study freshwater lake BY PHIL CORSO
Long Island’s largest freshwater lake is not what it used to be, but North Shore lawmakers and educators are teaming up to bring it back. Darcy Lonsdale and her students attending the Stony Brook
University School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences arrived at the docks of the 243acre Lake Ronkonkoma on Tuesday morning, equipped with various aquatic testing supplies to study marine life in the waters. Bill Pfeiffer, a member of the Nesconset Fire Department’s water rescue team, helped guide the students as residents and government officials flanked the docks in talks of a Lake Ronkonkoma that
once was. Pfeiffer has been diving in and exploring around Lake Ronkonkoma for years, mapping out the bottom of the lake and chronicling the different kinds of debris on its floor, which he said includes anything from parts of old amusement park rides to pieces of docks. “This lake needs a healthy amount of attention,” he said. “It has been appearing clearer, but [Hurricane] Sandy turned it
into a brown mud hole again.” The lake is home to various species, including largemouth bass and chain pickerel. Members of the Lake Ronkonkoma Advisory Task Forced hosted Pfeiffer and the students with hopes of gaining a deeper understanding of the waters and encouraging the four jurisdictions overseeing it — Brookhaven, Islip and Smithtown towns and Suffolk County — to continued on page A7