The Whitefish Point Underwater Preserve was established in 1987 to protect and conserve

shipwrecks A shipwreck is the wreckage of a ship that is located either beached on land or sunken to the bottom of a body of water. Shipwrecking may be intentional or unintentional. Angela Croome reported in January 1999 that there were approximately ...

and historical resources on of

Lake Superior Lake Superior in central North America is the largest freshwater lake in the world by surface areaThe Caspian Sea is the largest lake, but is saline, not freshwater. and the third-largest by volume, holding 10% of the world's surface fresh wa ...

bottomlands in

Whitefish Bay Whitefish Bay is a large bay on the eastern end of Lake Superior between Michigan, United States, and Ontario, Canada. It is located between Whitefish Point in Michigan and Whiskey Point along the more rugged, largely wilderness Canadian Shield o ...

and around

Whitefish Point Whitefish Point is a cape of Michigan's Upper Peninsula, United States, marking the entry point of Whitefish Bay. It is north of the unincorporated community of Paradise, Michigan. Whitefish Point is known for the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum, i ...

Michigan Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...

. The formation of the

Michigan Underwater Preserves Michigan Underwater Preserves or Michigan Bottomland Preserves are protected areas of the Great Lakes on Michigan's coast. The thirteen designated areas, comprising a surface area of over , are considered to be "Underwater museums" and serve to p ...

helped stop controversy over artifact removal from shipwrecks of this area. The preserve is now known for deep, well preserved shipwrecks in clear water accessible to

scuba divers This is a list of underwater divers whose exploits have made them notable. Underwater divers are people who take part in underwater diving activities – Underwater diving is practiced as part of an occupation, or for recreation, where t ...

with technical skill and experience. The preserve is one of the last places in the

Great Lakes The Great Lakes, also called the Great Lakes of North America, are a series of large interconnected freshwater lakes in the mid-east region of North America that connect to the Atlantic Ocean via the Saint Lawrence River. There are five lak ...

to observe shipwrecks without

zebra mussel The zebra mussel (''Dreissena polymorpha'') is a small freshwater mussel. The species originates from the lakes of southern Russia and Ukraine, but has been accidentally introduced to numerous other areas and has become an invasive species in ma ...

encrustation.

History

Shipwrecks along the southern Lake Superior coast known as the "Graveyard of the Great Lakes" dramatically increased after the first

lock Lock(s) may refer to: Common meanings *Lock and key, a mechanical device used to secure items of importance *Lock (water navigation), a device for boats to transit between different levels of water, as in a canal Arts and entertainment * ''Lock ...

on the St. Marys River opened this coastline to shipping in 1855. Every vessel entering or leaving Lake Superior must pass Whitefish Point. The

Whitefish Point Light The Whitefish Point Light is a lighthouse located in Chippewa County in the U.S. state of Michigan. Located on the southeastern shores of Lake Superior, it sits at the edge of Whitefish Point leading to Whitefish Bay. Constructed in 1849, it ...

first established in 1849 is arguably the most important light on Lake Superior. More vessels have been lost in the Whitefish Point area than any other part of Lake Superior. Between the loss of the ''Invincible'' in 1816 and the sinking of the SS ''Edmund Fitzgerald'' in 1975, the Whitefish Point area has claimed at least 240 ships. Vessels are funneled through Whitefish Bay downbound and upbound from the

Soo Locks The Soo Locks (sometimes spelled Sault Locks but pronounced "soo") are a set of parallel locks, operated and maintained by the United States Army Corps of Engineers, Detroit District, that enable ships to travel between Lake Superior and the low ...

. Poor visibility from forest fire smoke, snow squalls, and Lake Superior's notorious fogs had deadly consequences with the traffic congestion. Lake Superior's of open water and storms from the northwest can build immense seas with offshore waves of or more. Such a storm sank the ''SS Edmund Fitzgerald'' from Whitefish Point in 1975. Sport diver Harrington reported that many of the shipwrecks of the Whitefish Point Underwater Preserve were "stripped of important artifacts in the 1970s and early 1980s. The State of Michigan filed a lawsuit against the Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society (GLSHS) for illegal removal of artifacts from Great Lakes bottomlands. The Michigan

Department of Natural Resources This article lists subnational environmental agencies in the United States, by state. Agencies with a variety of titles and responsibilities are included, e.g. Department of Environment, Department of Environmental Conservation, Department of E ...

(DNR) obtained a search warrant in 1992 and raided on the GLSHS's offices and

Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum The Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum is located at the Whitefish Point Light Station north of Paradise in Chippewa County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The light station property was transferred to the Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society (GL ...

. The DNR found evidence the Shipwreck Society had: Many of the artifacts removed from shipwrecks by the GLSHS without permits are displayed at the

at Whitefish Point by a settlement agreement with the state of Michigan. The sport diving community raised a furious outcry over the disparity of special treatment for the museum divers who received no criminal prosecution while individual sport divers were prosecuted freely during the late 1980s and 1990s for removal of artifacts from shipwrecks. To this day many sport divers boycott the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum.

Preserve formation

The Whitefish Point Underwater Preserve was established in 1987 to protect some of the region's most sensitive underwater natural and cultural resources with the central objective to provide enhanced management of shipwrecks. The Whitefish Point Underwater Preserve is administered through the

Michigan Department of Environmental Quality The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE), formerly Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (Michigan DEQ, MDEQ, or simply DEQ), is a principal department of the U.S. state of Michigan for environmental issues. T ...

Submerged Lands Program and the

Michigan Department of History, Arts and Libraries The Michigan Department of History, Arts and Libraries (MHAL) was an agency of the U.S. state of Michigan. Its official name was ''Michigan History, Arts and Libraries''. It was created in 2001 and was eliminated in 2009. History and responsibil ...

of the Michigan Historical Center. Scuba divers and history enthusiasts now help ensure the integrity of the preserve which is considered an underwater museum.

Features

Many of the twenty-three known shipwrecks lying in depths from to are

moored A mooring is any permanent structure to which a vessel may be secured. Examples include quays, wharfs, jetties, piers, anchor buoys, and mooring buoys. A ship is secured to a mooring to forestall free movement of the ship on the water. An ''an ...

to protect the wrecks and enhance the safety of divers. The preserve has good visibility and offers deep water diving on a variety of shipwrecks. The preserve is one of the last places in the Great Lakes to observe shipwrecks without zebra mussel encrustation.

Dry suit A dry suit or drysuit provides the wearer with environmental protection by way of thermal insulation and exclusion of water, and is worn by divers, boaters, water sports enthusiasts, and others who work or play in or near cold or contaminated ...

s are recommended due to cold temperatures and unprotected coves or bays. Most of the dive sites are deep and divers must be certain of their ability and their equipment before they attempt to dive in this preserve.Harrington, p. 321-322

References

External links

Michigan Underwater Preserve Council – Whitefish Point

{{Recreational dive sites, wrereg Archaeology of shipwrecks Wreck diving sites Shipwrecks of Lake Superior Marine parks of Michigan Protected areas of Luce County, Michigan Protected areas of Chippewa County, Michigan Underwater archaeological sites Archaeological sites in Michigan Underwater diving sites in the United States 1987 establishments in Michigan Protected areas established in 1987

History

Preserve formation

Features

See also

References

External links