January 19, 2000
Director of Media Relations
413/542-8417

AMHERST, Mass.—Ed Klekowski, professor of biology at the University of Massachusetts, will talk about "The Underwater World of the Connecticut River" on Thursday, Feb. 17 at 7:30 p.m. at the Pratt Museum of Natural History at Amherst College. The talk and slide show are free and open to the public. Refreshments will be served.

A dive team led by Klekowski has been conducting the first underwater inventory of the biological, geological and historical resources of the Connecticut River. The U. Mass. team—assisted by local sports divers from western Massachusetts and New Hampshire—has made over 300 dives, exploring the river from southern Vermont and New Hampshire to the Holyoke Dam.

Among their discoveries in the deeps: a yawning 130-foot abyss with a unique invertebrate community, visible remains of ice-age Lake Hitchcock, ghostly wrecks of railroad bridges that now act as fresh water artificial reefs, new species of insects and evocative artifacts of the log drives of the late 19th century.

The talk is sponsored by the Pratt Museum of Natural History at Amherst College.

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