The sharp scent of chemicals bites the air as Jason Krebill wades in a creek and pulls out two slippery, slimy, parasitic creatures.
He’s holding dead adult sea lampreys, one in each hand. They’re about two feet long, with suction-cupped mouths, lined with nearly a dozen rows of sharp teeth.
Like a vampire, the sea lamprey latches onto its prey and sucks the blood and nutrients out of fish in all five of the Great Lakes. Krebill, a biological science technician with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, is a part of a team whose job it is to control the invasive species.