Wicked wind from the Northwest

Saturday 5 October was a norwester day, and we thought it would be perfect to have a quick sail out on Lake Ellesmere. But when we got there, there was plenty of wind but (!!!) no water.

Lake Ellesmere had been mysteriously turned into one large mud flat covered with tiny fish struggling to find a few cm of water to keep alive. There were small fish literally being blown across the mud and eventually gathering in small puddles formed by rocks or depressions in the lake bottom.

There were birds aplenty - mostly seagulls and ducks - but they had apparently already eaten their fill by the time we got there and just sat around looking stuffed while fish flipped and floundered in the mud. 

After about 1 hour, the water started coming back. Slowly but surely, water levels were back up to normal within about 2 hours. Our theory is that the NW wind (blowing from land toward the ocean) combined with a low tide pushed all the lake water out into the ocean. Once the tide turned, the water could flow back in, albeit gradually due to the wind.