The Limnos Mooring Buoy

On the south shore of Picnic Point, in the relatively sheltered waters of University Bay, the 26-foot research trawler “Limnos” is moored during the summer months.

This 40 year-old boat was built especially to facilitate research on Lake Mendota by the faculty, staff, and students of the Arthur D. Hasler Laboratory of Limnology.

Limnology, the scientific study of bodies of fresh water—especially lakes and ponds—has been taught and explored on Lake Mendota since 1907. Because of this long history, Mendota is renowned as the “most studied lake in the world.”

The Hasler Limnology Lab is located at the eastern gateway to the Preserve.