Adventurers and treasure hunters, take note! There may be some sunken riches to be uncovered. Due to the recent melting of the ice on Lake Michigan, its waters have been unusually clear. As a result, the U.S. Coast Guard Air Station was able to snap photos of some sunken shipwrecks while on a routine helicopter journey over the lake. There are thought to be thousands of sunken ships in Lake Michigan’s waters, but these particular ones are fairly close to the shore, under only 5 to 15 feet of water (which is why they were visible from a helicopter) so they may be able to be viewed just with some basic snorkeling equipment. Pretty cool! Let’s take a look at the photos that they captured.
MichiganPreserves.org explains why there are so many wreckages in Lake Michigan…
“During the heyday of Michigan lumbering, this was a booming shipping area. It is also an area where ships have sought safety by attempting to ride out storms in the lee of the Islands. These activities have produced a substantial inventory of known and unknown shipwrecks.”
Many of these shipwrecks are unidentified, but the cool waters of Lake Michigan have kept them in good condition.
This sunken ship has been identified as The Rising Sun, a boat which belonged to a religious group and sank in 1917.
This is the wreckage of the James McBride which ran aground in the 1850s, near Sleeping Bear Dune.
Who knew there were so many sunken ships in Lake Michigan?! It would be amazing to explore some of these wreckages.
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