BB27 Posted December 16, 2010 Share Posted December 16, 2010 Pretty cool pictures and article. Waterfall, what waterfall? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wacka Posted December 16, 2010 Share Posted December 16, 2010 Read the comments. it is amazing how stupid people are. All the correct info is available. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ExiledInIllinois Posted December 17, 2010 Share Posted December 17, 2010 All the water is being diverted... Coffer dam the American side. I always joked about people complaining about the lakes getting too low... They can always shut off the falls and divert what they want to and basically control Lake Erie The Falls is really just a dam/spillway... The water that you see is just going over the spillway... Just like if Lake Mead got too high and the water went over the emergency spillway... Or any other dam with an emergency spillway. Think of the Falls being that little hole at the top of your bathroom sink or bathtub... You know when you fill the basin too much and the water spills into it and down the drain. They can make the Falls totally silent and send water from the upper river to the lower river through culverts and res'. Just imagine the poop-fit people would have if they did that while basically shutting off a nature wonder and tourist attraction. At night they do lower the flow over to raise more power production. Of course I joke... But if they put a dam at Detroit and totally controlled the Niagara spillway... The lakes could be totally controlled. Lake Ontario (controlled at the Seaway) and Lake Superior (at the Soo and St. Mary's river) are the two lakes that are mostly controlled. Why do you think Lake Ontario is the most at risk lake. Lake Ontario doesn't go through the nature cycle of up and down elevations since it almost totally controlled out the St. Lawrence. They complain about the Chicago diversion... Man is doing there what nature is doing at the Falls, just a lower head (difference in water). The reason the Chicago diversion works is because the bottom of the canals are about the same elevation as what goes over the Falls. Why do you think they want to shut the Chicago diversion down? Not because a silly fish. People really don't realize the: Great Lakes Water Wars going on. People also don't realize that what ever leaves the Welland Diversion and Chicago diversion... Canada puts back in 20% more water at Superior... Water that would normally head to the arctic, heads to the lakes via Superior for the last 70 or so years. Everybody has their hand in the pie. Sorry for digressing... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plenzmd1 Posted December 17, 2010 Share Posted December 17, 2010 Pretty cool pictures and article. Waterfall, what waterfall? One of my first vivid memories being 6 at the time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shrader Posted December 17, 2010 Share Posted December 17, 2010 I've always heard the stories about this but never actually saw any pictures until today. That's pretty cool. I wish there was some video out there of the moment they took the dam out. Actually, it would probably be pretty boring since they couldn't just take the whole thing out in one instant. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marv's Neighbor Posted December 17, 2010 Share Posted December 17, 2010 If you look at the Niagara Falls NY city shot, it's not too different from today's picture. On the other hand, even though Canada is not in the picture, the Skyline has taken off! As I recall, in 1969, the Canadian side of the Falls had 2 "Towers." The Seagram/Canon/ whatever they call it now and the Skylon. Quite a different picture today. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dean Posted December 17, 2010 Share Posted December 17, 2010 I often had the opportunity to incorporate this event into my tour guide rap during my brief stint in the mid/late 70's. Apparently, some bits of information from the reports of the water diversion from the US Falls, reached plenty of tourons (that's tourist morons) prior to their visit to Niagara Falls. Of course the info got quite garbled in their minds. This led to frequent inquiries along the lines of "When do they turn off the Falls?". Depending on the time and situation, I might answer something like "I think we've got about 15 minutes before they turn it off. We'd better hurry!" Nothing made my day more than the typical response from the touron wife, who would stare at her husband and reply, "SEE, I told you!" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WWVaBeach Posted December 17, 2010 Share Posted December 17, 2010 One of my first vivid memories being 6 at the time. I too remember it and I was 9 at the time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
birdog1960 Posted December 17, 2010 Share Posted December 17, 2010 (edited) i remember seeing fish in the hollowed out rock puddles above the turned off falls. i was nine and was into fishing even then and wanted to go try to catch them (there were some big ones). now, it makes me think: how would any fish be able to swim against the current of the upper rapids that close to the falls? lots of em must fall to their death every day... and what are they doing there in the first place?...wrong turn? to dean's point about the dumb tourists, i had many friends that worked in summer tourist jobs and did similar stuff. one of the best stories was a friend that worked at Fort Niagara who got on the PA and said: "there will be a d day re-enactment at the north wall in 10 minutes. please bring your own flotation device" ...and people actually went to look. makes me wonder how often that stuff is pulled on me when i'm a tourist somewhere. Edited December 17, 2010 by birdog1960 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NCDAWG Posted December 17, 2010 Share Posted December 17, 2010 I was 3 at the time. Got to walk around the bed of the falls, as my Father worked on the crew that stopped the water. Actually have some home movies walking around while the dozers and machinery are working. Pretty cool. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr_Blizzard Posted December 19, 2010 Share Posted December 19, 2010 Pretty cool pictures and article. Waterfall, what waterfall? Funny, I forgot all about that. The American Falls sure looks different with no water flowing! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ExiledInIllinois Posted December 19, 2010 Share Posted December 19, 2010 I've always heard the stories about this but never actually saw any pictures until today. That's pretty cool. I wish there was some video out there of the moment they took the dam out. Actually, it would probably be pretty boring since they couldn't just take the whole thing out in one instant. Most likely they realeased the coffer dam slowly... I am pretty sure it wasn't one big rush... I often had the opportunity to incorporate this event into my tour guide rap during my brief stint in the mid/late 70's. Apparently, some bits of information from the reports of the water diversion from the US Falls, reached plenty of tourons (that's tourist morons) prior to their visit to Niagara Falls. Of course the info got quite garbled in their minds. This led to frequent inquiries along the lines of "When do they turn off the Falls?". Depending on the time and situation, I might answer something like "I think we've got about 15 minutes before they turn it off. We'd better hurry!" Nothing made my day more than the typical response from the touron wife, who would stare at her husband and reply, "SEE, I told you!" Conceivably with the right engineering and diversion... They can pretty much do that... Slowly starting diverting it through culverts... They can make it a trickle. How deep is the water really at the brink? Not much. Just imagine the outrage if they took this approach: Roll along Columbia, you can ramble to the sea, But river while you're rambling, you can do some work for me”. ~Woody Guthrie "Ramble" right out of sight through the culverts. i remember seeing fish in the hollowed out rock puddles above the turned off falls. i was nine and was into fishing even then and wanted to go try to catch them (there were some big ones). now, it makes me think: how would any fish be able to swim against the current of the upper rapids that close to the falls? lots of em must fall to their death every day... and what are they doing there in the first place?...wrong turn? to dean's point about the dumb tourists, i had many friends that worked in summer tourist jobs and did similar stuff. one of the best stories was a friend that worked at Fort Niagara who got on the PA and said: "there will be a d day re-enactment at the north wall in 10 minutes. please bring your own flotation device" ...and people actually went to look. makes me wonder how often that stuff is pulled on me when i'm a tourist somewhere. I would bet dollars to donuts that most fish probably DO NOT die... Even falling over the brink... Unless they happen to be the few unlucky fish that hit a rock on the way down... Really. Anyway, it must be a real pain in the butt to get back up... To fish it is nature, some say out of the main channel that spills over. This confirms my suspicions: Do Fish go over the Falls? and What kind of fish are found ? The simple answer is - yes they do. They do all the time and most survive the rigorous journey. The fish is for the most part is much better built to survive the journey than most humans. Firstly, they live in water and are much lighter and more pliable. The journey over the Falls is nothing more than a going down the a big elevator for the fish. The volume of the Falls creates a cushion of air bubbles and water mixture at the base that softens the the surface of the plunge pool at the base of the Falls. For the most part the fish is always in the water whether going over the Falls or not. Their bodies are built to absorb a tremendous amount of pressure before sustaining any related injury. The plunge pool at the base of the Falls is about 150 feet deep. The dangers for the fish rests with seagulls/terns who patrol the base of the Falls in large flocks looking for those unfortunate fish that are stunned by the fall and swim too close to the surface. Obviously the journey over the American Falls is much more hazardous because of the dangers of being crushed against the rock talus at the base of the Falls. The Horseshoe is a relatively safe route for fish to travel because of the absence of the rock talus. Remember that 90% of all the water goes over the Horseshoe Falls. Of all the fish that journey over the Falls, very few will perish. There is little doubt that this journey is very harsh and traumatic, however most are successful and survive only to run the gauntlet of fishermen along the river. If you stand at the Falls, it is very rare to see a fish jump out of the stream of the water falls because of their immensity and volume. Remarkably, if one stands at the base of the Falls, very few dead fish can be found. As a note of interest, several years ago a tourist was struck by a salmon while walking at the Cave of the Winds boardwalk. Luckily, the fish just grazed the tourist resulting in no serious injury. This tourist caught himself a salmon literally by hand and that's a lot harder and more dangerous than regular fishing. This tourist was able to take his catch home with him as a trophy. Renown Niagara River expert, Wes Hill, confirms that fish indeed go over the falls and he estimated that 90% of them survived. He said he has seen them in the early morning. At times they will appear "stunned" from there trip over the falls, but revive after a few minutes and swim away. The sport fish of the Niagara River include Chinook and Coho Salmon, Smallmouth Bass, White Bass, Carp, Rainbow Trout, Lake Trout, Catfish, Muskellunge, Northern Pike and Yellow Perch. The largest fish is the Lake Sturgeon. The lake sturgeon can reach a length of 7 feet and weigh more than 300 lbs. living over 50 years of age. In the Niagara Region there are approximately 94 species of fish. This region has the most diverse freshwater fish population in Canada. Today , it is not uncommon to catch 20-30 pound salmon in the autumn. There have been several recorded instances where water fowl swimming on the surface of the water in inclement foggy weather have been swept to their deaths over the Falls when they failed to recognize the dangers of the waterfalls ahead. Speaking of waterfowl... At the lock I work at, ducks (especially) on ocassion get swept away... Most make it. Some don't... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
birdog1960 Posted December 19, 2010 Share Posted December 19, 2010 This confirms my suspicions: Do Fish go over the Falls? and What kind of fish are found ? The simple answer is - yes they do. They do all the time and most survive the rigorous journey. The fish is for the most part is much better built to survive the journey than most humans. Firstly, they live in water and are much lighter and more pliable. The journey over the Falls is nothing more than a going down the a big elevator for the fish. The volume of the Falls creates a cushion of air bubbles and water mixture at the base that softens the the surface of the plunge pool at the base of the Falls. For the most part the fish is always in the water whether going over the Falls or not. Their bodies are built to absorb a tremendous amount of pressure before sustaining any related injury. The plunge pool at the base of the Falls is about 150 feet deep. The dangers for the fish rests with seagulls/terns who patrol the base of the Falls in large flocks looking for those unfortunate fish that are stunned by the fall and swim too close to the surface. Obviously the journey over the American Falls is much more hazardous because of the dangers of being crushed against the rock talus at the base of the Falls. The Horseshoe is a relatively safe route for fish to travel because of the absence of the rock talus. Remember that 90% of all the water goes over the Horseshoe Falls. Of all the fish that journey over the Falls, very few will perish. There is little doubt that this journey is very harsh and traumatic, however most are successful and survive only to run the gauntlet of fishermen along the river. If you stand at the Falls, it is very rare to see a fish jump out of the stream of the water falls because of their immensity and volume. Remarkably, if one stands at the base of the Falls, very few dead fish can be found. As a note of interest, several years ago a tourist was struck by a salmon while walking at the Cave of the Winds boardwalk. Luckily, the fish just grazed the tourist resulting in no serious injury. This tourist caught himself a salmon literally by hand and that's a lot harder and more dangerous than regular fishing. This tourist was able to take his catch home with him as a trophy. Renown Niagara River expert, Wes Hill, confirms that fish indeed go over the falls and he estimated that 90% of them survived. He said he has seen them in the early morning. At times they will appear "stunned" from there trip over the falls, but revive after a few minutes and swim away. The sport fish of the Niagara River include Chinook and Coho Salmon, Smallmouth Bass, White Bass, Carp, Rainbow Trout, Lake Trout, Catfish, Muskellunge, Northern Pike and Yellow Perch. The largest fish is the Lake Sturgeon. The lake sturgeon can reach a length of 7 feet and weigh more than 300 lbs. living over 50 years of age. In the Niagara Region there are approximately 94 species of fish. This region has the most diverse freshwater fish population in Canada. Today , it is not uncommon to catch 20-30 pound salmon in the autumn. There have been several recorded instances where water fowl swimming on the surface of the water in inclement foggy weather have been swept to their deaths over the Falls when they failed to recognize the dangers of the waterfalls ahead. [/fo good to know, but if an estimated 90% of the fish survive and 90% of the water goes over the horseshoe falls, you have to wonder what the survival rate for fish going over the american falls is. most of the fish going over the falls presumably go where most of the water goes. the american sides plunge pool is pretty far out from the base of the falls as there are so many rocks. i'm doubting that any where near 90% survive that fall and expect its much lower. no doubt in the grand scheme of things, pollution, especially in 1969, killed many more fish than the falls. the fishery that is now the lower niagara is a testament to what can be accomplished by clean up efforts and environmental controls. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shrader Posted December 19, 2010 Share Posted December 19, 2010 Most likely they realeased the coffer dam slowly... I am pretty sure it wasn't one big rush... Yeah, I know, but just imagine if they could do it that way. That would be one hell of a visual. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ExiledInIllinois Posted December 20, 2010 Share Posted December 20, 2010 Yeah, I know, but just imagine if they could do it that way. That would be one hell of a visual. Sorry Shrade... I caught what you said right after I posted and reread what you originally said... My bad! You are right, that would be one hell of a visual!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justnzane Posted December 20, 2010 Share Posted December 20, 2010 If you look at the Niagara Falls NY city shot, it's not too different from today's picture. On the other hand, even though Canada is not in the picture, the Skyline has taken off! As I recall, in 1969, the Canadian side of the Falls had 2 "Towers." The Seagram/Canon/ whatever they call it now and the Skylon. Quite a different picture today. I was about to say how much of a shame that the American side of Niagara Falls looked better back then from what I saw of the photos. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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