For this oil painting, Kassia Lesiewicz wanted to show the link between water clarity and the food chain surrounding Spiny Water Fleas, an invasive zooplankton that have entered many lakes in Wisconsin. Lesiewicz placed the Spiny Water Fleas in the center of the image and exaggerated their size, showing how, when present in large numbers, they throw off the balance of the food chain which leads to poor water clarity, among other things. This stems off of Ben Martin’s research on Spiny Water Fleas, which emphasizes how these small creatures create noticeable changes in our water systems. Included in the image are predators of Spiny Water Fleas such as Yellow Perch and Walleye [pictured at the top] and prey of Spiny Water Fleas like Daphnia [pictured bottom left], a kind of native zooplankton who consume algae. Martin explores how, when these Water Fleas are given the chance to grow in population, they outnumber both their prey and predators, leading to limited Daphnia available to keep algal blooms from growing. This process is illustrated through the top-down depiction of the food chain, with poor water clarity being the end result.