Drownings in the Great Lakes are down this year, with half of them occurring in Lake Michigan. Meanwhile, the number of drownings in inland lakes isn’t known and some sheriffs are cutting back marine patrols amid a funding shortage.
The Edmund Fitzgerald was carrying Iron Ore to Detroit when it sank in 1975, killing all crew members. Now, 68 swimmers — Led by Jim “The Shark” Dreyer — will complete the mission.
The Great Lakes piping plover recovery effort has been ongoing since the mid-1980s when the population got as low as a dozen nesting pairs. This year, the number reached 85 nesting pairs for the first time.
Amid a population crash of Michigan’s staple lake whitefish, fisheries experts told regulators that more research needs to be done to discover how to stem the scourge of invasive mussels. Without that, they said, efforts to limit fishing are futile.
The Michigan Natural Resources Commission on Thursday will hear a presentation on the looming collapse of whitefish in lakes Michigan and Huron. Bridge Michigan is spending the summer exploring the ramifications.
For six years, Attorney General Dana Nessel and Enbridge have been fighting over which court should rule on a lawsuit Nessel filed in 2019. The lawsuit seeks to shut down the petroleum pipeline that runs in the open water of the Great Lakes.
Researchers at the University of Minnesota Duluth found the previously-undiscovered microorganisms hiding in the tar-like goo oozing out of a research vessel’s rudder shaft.
Extreme erosion along the Great Lakes coasts grabbed lawmakers’ attention and inspired proposals to pull development back from the shoreline. Five years later, regulatory gaps still leave some communities more vulnerable than others.
From renting to volunteering, opportunities abound in Michigan to sleep in lighthouse quarters. We followed along as guests slept on the grounds of the Pointe aux Barques Lighthouse in the Thumb.
Globally, 1 million species are on the brink of extinction. Experts say to avoid further losses, society must begin to prioritize the planet’s long-term health over near-term convenience and profits.
Michigan has rhapsodized about the hardy fish for centuries. Celebrations continue, but they are taking on a melancholy tone for the fish 'synonymous with Great Lakes living.’
Few fish are as synonymous with Michigan as whitefish. Pushed to the edge by invasive species, their struggle is the tip of a cataclysmic species collapse that could change our way of life.
