{"id":858,"date":"2024-04-18T12:14:21","date_gmt":"2024-04-18T16:14:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dev.seagrant.w3.uvm.edu\/2024\/04\/18\/the-tourism-of-totality-lake-champlain-reacts-to-total-solar-eclipse-and-preps-for-earth-day-activities\/"},"modified":"2025-10-22T17:49:03","modified_gmt":"2025-10-22T21:49:03","slug":"the-tourism-of-totality-lake-champlain-reacts-to-total-solar-eclipse-and-preps-for-earth-day-activities","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uvm.edu\/seagrant\/2024\/04\/18\/the-tourism-of-totality-lake-champlain-reacts-to-total-solar-eclipse-and-preps-for-earth-day-activities\/","title":{"rendered":"The Tourism of Totality: Lake Champlain Reacts to Total Solar Eclipse and Preps for Earth Day Activities"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tOn Monday, April 8, the Lake Champlain basin was the perfect spot to witness the 2024 solar total eclipse. Thousands of people gathered in Burlington\u2019s Waterfront Park<\/a> to witness the eclipse from the shores of Lake Champlain. Those gathered along Burlington\u2019s waterfront were only a small fraction of the estimated 160,000 eclipse visitors in Vermont<\/a> and up to 500,000 visitors in the Adirondacks<\/a>. While the Lake Champlain Basin was crowded here to witness the eclipse, people weren\u2019t the only ones reacting to the path of total darkness.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tLake Champlain and its surrounding forest and wetland areas support a diverse wildlife population, and animals had their own reactions to the eclipse. Many eclipse-watchers also observed the animals \u2014particularly birds. Birding students at the University of Vermont noticed birds they hadn\u2019t normally seen nearby, including bohemian waxwings, red-tailed hawks, and pileated woodpeckers. Animals react to the change in lighting and temperature of the eclipse in different ways, often confused about the time of day. During the eclipse in 2017, scientists recorded large clouds of insects and birds moving rapidly across the sky<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe animals weren\u2019t the only thing affected by the eclipse! With a large number of tourists, there is inevitable trash that follows. Whether people observed from the shores of Lake Champlain or elsewhere in the Basin, anything left behind will make its way down toward the lake. Trash and plastic can make its way into lakes by being blown by wind or washed in through storm sewers or rivers. Along the way and once in the lake, plastic will slowly break into small pieces called microplastics, harming local ecosystems. Lake Champlain Sea Grant is working to help community members learn about plastic pollution in the environment and identify solutions to minimize it. Lake Champlain Sea Grant’s Watershed Alliance program works with students to identify microplastics in fish, our outreach team helps with and leads\u00a0beach cleanups, and we have a team conducting research on\u00a0microplastics in the lake.<\/p>\n

\n\tWhile we don\u2019t expect as many visitors as on April 8, summer is approaching and bringing with it many more tourists. As the snow melts and the temperatures rise, the plastic trash from the winter will make its way onto the shores of the lake. Our staff will be involved in Earth Day clean-ups throughout the Basin.<\/p>\n