Lake Ontario, ON

Lake Ontario has held different historical significance's throughout its time. The First Nation's were the first people to live around it around 7,000 years ago. In 2018, it's now a source of drinking water to a range of people from Canada and USA. The size of the lake, along with its connection to the Atlantic, emphasis its impressive ecology. Connecting to all of the Great Lakes, allowing the travel of different types of fishes and habitats.

Lake Ontario is important to me because I spent a lot of my childhood visiting it. As a young child, I would often play in the water and have picnics with my family at the beach. However, since the waterbody has become so contaminated with a multitude of different things, it radiates toxicity. Leading to 10 species of fish becoming extinct. I would like for future generations to be able to have the same enjoyable experiences that I had as a kid.

The Lake is threatened due to human activities over time. Sewage is spilled into the Lake daily, as well as asphalt, rusty steel, bricks, etc. People throw trash into the Lake, often being aluminum and plastic. Such as cans of soda, used condoms, tampons, and even needles. With all the contamination in the lake, fish and birds become infected with many diseases, leading to bioaccumulation and magnification, toxifying the food chain. Additionally, this is the Lake that almost all of Ontarians drink from, meaning that this is our sole source of clean water. Ontario would need to find some other water source if it gets too contaminated which could take extended periods of time.