MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The Great Lakes’ frigid fresh water used to keep shipwrecks so well preserved that divers could see dishes in the cupboards. Quagga mussels, native to Russia and Ukraine, were discovered in the Great Lakes in 1989, around the same time as their infamous cousin species, zebra mussels. Scientists believe the creatures arrived via ballast dumps from transoceanic freighters making their way to Great Lakes ports. They consume so many nutrients at such high rates they can render portions of the murky Great Lakes as clear as tropical seas. After 30 years of colonization, quaggas have displaced zebra mussels as the dominant mussel in the Great Lakes.

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