Continuing a series of studies of Lake George, which over the past few years have found elevated levels of mercury in songbirds and spiders, researchers from the BioDiversity Institute of Gorham, Maine came to the lake on June 27 to sample bass, trout, and perch.The video shows researchers Brian Lang (left) and Ian Johnson (right) taking a tissue sample from a small mouth bass using a 5 milimeter punch plug. The plug allows the researchers to extract tissue without killing the bass.

The BioDiversity Research Institute was awarded a grant from the Lake Champlain Basin Program to assess the concentration of mercury in Lake Champlain’s sports fish. The Nature Conservancy of Eastern New York and the Dome Island Committee of Bolton Landing supplemented the grant to bring the researchers to Lake George.

Over the course of four days, Lang and Johnson will take the blood and tissue samples from fish around Crown Island and Dome Island. The samples will be sent to the BioDiversity Institute labs for tests, and should provide a clearer idea of the mercury levels in Lake George itself.

The results should be published sometime between spring and fall of 2012.