Dancing through ice

Last week’s heavy winds pushed a bunch of Lake Erie ice over the boom and into the Niagara River where it formed a solid field of ice in the few 100 yards offshore at the power plant intakes near the former Fort Schlosser along the carcass of Robert Moses Parkway.

Canada’s Niagara Queen II and the New York Power Authority’s William Latham ply the waters in a perpetual dance, reversing, ramming and doing it again to clear the ice. It brings to mind a snowplow clearing a parking lot.

I stood and watched for about 10 minutes, sharing the railing with another half-dozen visitors enjoying the spectacle as a redwinged blackbird pirched nearby. They are how we know it is spring.

As hard as those boats worked, they didn't seem to make a difference. By Tuesday mid-day, the wind had shifted and the ice cleared in a way only nature knows.

The Niagara Queen II is a specialized 85-ton icebreaker, operated by Ontario Power Generation, plays an important role each winter. It typically works in the Chippawa–Grass Island Pool above the Falls, helping manage ice buildup that could affect power generation and river flow but comes to help stateside when needed.