Watertown, NY, March 18, 2015 - New York Sea Grant's coastal recreation and tourism specialist Dave White stopped by Watertown's WWNY-TV 7 News This Morning studios to talk with its newscasters about the start of the boating season.

He says that while there's still ice on the lakes and rivers and snow banks are towering, it's not too early to start thinking about recreating on New York's Great Lakes and marine waters.

What does the winter we just had mean for folks interested in boating on Lake Ontario this season? "It's been a typical winter," he says. That goes for the ice cover, which was at a high rate several times in the past few months.

High snow banks on land, however, don't necessarily mean that water levels will be higher. "When we're talking about water levels in the spring, we want to know how many nor'easters and severe storms did we get that brought new water into the system." Currently, water levels in all of the Great Lakes except for Lake Ontario are at or above average, so there has been a rebound in the past several years. With more water in the system, there needs to be a discussion about how much to release from the St. Lawrence River to prepare for the spring thaw.

As for preparation, White says it will probably be shorter this season than in recent years for boaters. Translation: Make those appointments early with your marina.

Since April 2006, White has been bringing Sea Grant's "message" to the morning masses at WWNY TV 7, a Fox affiliate in downtown Watertown, during one of the highest rated TV blocks in the "wake-up hours," the 6:30-7 am stretch.

Sea Grant's 'five minutes of fame' - which potentially reaches around 10,000 viewers in New York's Jefferson and Northern Oswego Counties - has featured topics over the years such as boating safety, aquatic invasive species, diving in search of sunken wrecks, the dune and Salmon River stewards program, shoreline land issues, tourism, and marine safety. 


More Info: New York Sea Grant

New York Sea Grant (NYSG), a cooperative program of Cornell University and the State University of New York, is one of 33 university-based programs under the National Sea Grant College Program (NSGCP) of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The NSGCP engages this network of the nation’s top universities in conducting scientific research, education, training and extension projects designed to foster science-based decisions about the use and conservation of our aquatic resources. Through its statewide network of integrated services, NYSG has been promoting coastal vitality, environmental sustainability, and citizen awareness about the State’s marine and Great Lakes resources since 1971.

For updates on Sea Grant activities: www.nyseagrant.org has RSS, Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube links. NYSG also offers a free e-list sign up via www.nyseagrant.org/coastlines for its flagship publication, NY Coastlines/Currents, which is published several times a year.