A Natural History of Lake Ontario

As headlines of deadly heat waves and extreme weather around the nation abound, Lake Ontario’s moderating influences on our temperatures has never been more apparent. The lake’s many gifts to us include our diversified high value fruit growing region, a major recreational fishery and some of the best sailing and cruising waters in the northeast. And yet says the author, “It remains over looked and under appreciated so I felt a need to write this book.” Gateley, who now resides in Fair Haven, has spent decades exploring the lake afloat with her various boats and its shorelines on foot. She says, “Lake Ontario is an international body of water that has played a key role in the history of two nations. Its coastal landscape is one of the most dynamic areas anywhere in upstate NY. It is a place of constant change shaped by water and wind.” Her new book will help beachcombers seek out fossils, lucky rocks, and water rounded quartz crystals among the shore’s varied pebbles. Some of the colorful beach pebbles here were transported by the glacier from the Canadian Shield, home to outcrops of the oldest surface rock on the continent. Gateley also documents some of the many changes that have occurred in the last few decades to Lake Ontario and its fisheries. Over fifty black and white photos and descriptions detail the interactions of native and recent immigrant animals and plants that now call this Great Lake home. Despite pollution and on going deforestation and development, the lake retains much resilience, and native birds and animals like the osprey and lake sturgeon are making a comeback here.Susan Peterson Gateley has written on Lake Ontario topics for more than thirty years covering everything from midge hatches and classic wooden boats to radium factories in her books and magazine articles.. She also scripted a 2015 documentary, “Lake Ontario, Quest For Hope” that was broadcast on local TV. Part of that video, based on the book “Saving The Beautiful Lake” was adapted and distributed in Canada for classroom use as a short. A Natural History of Lake Ontario is available in bookstores throughout the region and can also be found on line or ordered directly from the author. Visit susanpgateley.com for more information and a link to Lake Ontario Log, on line since 1995, and to her videos.