Mussels, is it Government BS

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Here is an excerpt from Carlton-Johnson 1993 for you.

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Aquatic birds
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Observations on the potential for aquatic birds to disperse
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zebra mussels were made by examining the ability
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of mallard ducks [/size][/font][/size][/font][font "Times New Roman"][/font][size 1][/size][font "Times New Roman"][/font][size 1][/size](Anas platyrhynchos) [/i][/size][/font][/size][/font][font "Times New Roman"][/font][size 1][/size][font "Times New Roman"][/font][size 1][/size]to carry veliger
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and juvenile stages either internally or externally (L. E.
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Johnson, M. Furman, and J. T. Carlton, [/size][/font][/size][/font][font "Times New Roman"][/font][size 1][/size][font "Times New Roman"][/font][size 1][/size]unpublished
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data). [/i][/size][/font][/size][/font][font "Times New Roman"][/font][size 1][/size][font "Times New Roman"][/font][size 1][/size]Internal transport by the ingestion and defecation
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of juvenile mussels or veligers was examined by allowing
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captive ducks to consume mussels or concentrated
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suspensions of veligers and then examining the resulting
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fecal material. As observed in similar studies (Thompson
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and Sparks 1977) no animals survived passage
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through the gut, presumably due to a combination of the
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high body temperatures of the ducks, the crushing action
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of the gizzard, and the action of digestive enzymes. External
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transport was examined by permitting ducks to
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swim in a lake containing veligers (Lake St. Clair, Michigan,
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USA) or in 2-m-diameter wading pools containing
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enhanced concentrations of veligers or juveniles and
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then directing them overland (2.5 m) into target pools
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of tap water. Water from the target pools was then examined
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for zebra mussels. Zebra mussels were transported
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under all situations, but at very low numbers,
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usually <0.5 mussel per duck per trip. [#ff4040][/#ff4040]The enhanced
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[#ff4040][/#ff4040]zebra mussel densities, the extremely short distances
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[#ff4040][/#ff4040]involved, and the fact that the ducks walked rather than
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[#ff4040][/#ff4040]flew to the target pools suggest that these rates of transfer
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[#ff4040][/#ff4040]overestimate the ability of waterfowl to transport zebra
[#ff4040][/#ff4040]mussels overland.
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So the unpublished proof cited was determined by putting mallards into a pool of unnaturally concentrated mussels and having the ducks walk 10' (2.5 meters) to a pool where a concentration of less than 1/2 viliger (that's 1/2 of an animal) per duck per trip was determined to have occurred.
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Last I knew it takes 2 whole animals to mate.
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There is no proof that a duck Flying normal distances from a water with normal concentrations of viligers can carry any viligers to that body of water.
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There is your data and analysis, right from the source you cited.
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