North Coast Chronicles: Tales from the Great Lakes

26/01/2024

Jan. 2024: An icon of the Great Lakes! Marblehead Lighthouse. Photo by North Coast Aerial Photography

Great Lakes Islands Alliance Great Lakes Lighthouse Keepers Association

16/01/2024

A major seiche in western Lake Erie taken today at South Bass Island of Gibraltar Island, Put-in-Bay. Seiches are caused when strong winds and rapid changes in atmospheric pressure push water from one end of a body of water to another, exposing the bottom of the bay as shown here.

Photo Credit: Keara Stanislawczyk, Stone Lab Water Quality Research Technician.

08/01/2024

Join the Women's Aquatic Network (WAN) for a fun evening of networking as we welcome in 2024, meet our new executive board members. Come network with friends and colleagues across federal agencies, academia, NGOs, and industry that are dedicated to aquatic and marine professions/missions.

This event is open to all women and those that support women in science and aquatic fields. Please feel free to share this invite with others in your network. https://www.womensaquatic.org/events

No need to be a member to attend, though memberships can be initiated or renewed onsite or prior to the event.

When: Thursday, January 18th, 5-7 PM

Where: The Crown and Crow 1317 14th St NW, Washington, DC 20005

Events

05/01/2024

Great Lakes start 2024 with smallest amount of ice in at least 50 years (Source: https://boatnerd.com/boatnerd-news-january-4-2024/)
The Great Lakes had the smallest amount of ice cover this New Year’s Day in at least the past 50 years and are on track to see less than the seasonal average this winter, according to government data. The decline comes during a five-decade drop in ice cover that experts say is due in part to human-caused climate change.

“It’s an extreme number,” said James Kessler, a physical scientist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory (GLERL). “That said, it is early in the season, and there is year-to-year variability. But on average we are seeing less ice cover and shorter seasons.”

On the first of the year, only 0.35 percent of the Great Lakes was under ice, below the roughly 9 percent that it usually averages at this point in the winter, according to data from GLERL. On New Year’s Day 2023, more than 4 percent of the Great Lakes was covered in ice, while 2.35 percent was covered in ice on Jan. 1, 2022.

Kessler cautioned that while Monday’s low is remarkable, one-day lows are not as statistically significant as month-long lows. He added that maximum ice cover, or the point in the winter with the highest percentage of the Great Lakes with ice coverage, usually occurs in February and March, and that January is early in the season. (In 2023, the Great Lakes’ ice cover hit a record mid-February low.) Still, the drops are expected to continue as the earth keeps warming, with implications across industries and environments.

Robust ice cover protects lake shorelines from high waves that can bring severe flooding and damage the coastline, according to Kessler. Some microorganisms use the ice as a safe haven to spawn and lay eggs. A lack of ice coverage can lead to more severe snow storms because an unfrozen lake is a prerequisite for “lake effect” snow.
Great Lakes Commission Great Lakes Islands Alliance Sailing and Cruising The Great Lakes Lake Erie Islands Conservancy great lakes ships Lake Erie Love Boatnerds.club

Great Lakes start 2024 with smallest amount of ice in at least 50 years The Great Lakes had the smallest amount of ice cover this New Year’s Day in at least the past 50 years and are on track to see less than the seasonal average this winter, according to government data. The decline comes

02/01/2024

The Real History Behind Reversing the Chicago River on North Coast Chronicles podcast: Tales from the Great Lakes. Available now at https://www.coastalnewstoday.com/podcasts/the-real-history-behind-reversing-the-chicago-river-north-coast-chronicles or wherever you get your podcasts!

We were joined on the podcast by Mr. Dick Lanyan (Dicklanyan.com), who spent 48 years with the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago and where he became the executive director and ran the day-to-day operations - which addresses the industrial waste load equivalent for 9 million people.

Very early in our American history, the potential for Chicago to be the center of an expansive water system, connecting the East and the West with its location on Lake Michigan and along the Chicago River, prompted the federal government to establish Fort Dearborn in 1803 - where Chicago now sits. There is no shortage of written and digital stories about the Chicago River and how it was reversed 124 years ago on January 1, 1900. It is referred to as an engineering marvel – and certainly – it took engineering know-how and back-breaking work to create this “Big Ditch.” But, the story of Chicago’s challenges as a booming metropolis started way before the re-direction of the Chicago River and has everything to do with its glacial history, its location on the southwestern shore of Lake Michigan and the great Chicago population boom. Further, Chicago's days of flooding are far from over related to climate change and its continued large population.

Listen today! North Coast Chronicles: Tales from the Great Lakes Coastal News Today Chicago, Illinois Chicago Riverwalk Chicago Riverwalk Chicago River Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago Chicago Public Radio Great Lakes Shipping News Great Lakes Islands Alliance Great Lakes Commission Chicago Sanitary District Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal

North Coast Chronicles: Tales of the Great Lakes | Helen Brohl | Chicago's water history, a transformative tale!

24/12/2023

Great Lakes ice coverage lagging behind previous years as first signs of formation appear DEC 22, 2023

Ice cover has increasingly become an elusive feature of the Great Lakes as warming winters disrupt normal processes of the lakes freezing over. Tracking ice coverage for the 2023-2024 winter is still on the early side, but there are early signs this year will be below the average. Read the full story by WJBK-TV – https://www.fox2detroit.com/news/great-lakes-ice-coverage-lagging-behind-previous-years-as-first-signs-of-formation-appear

Over the past 50 years, the average ice coverage over the Great Lakes was about 5% by now. That's not the case this year.

21/12/2023

Chicago's Wabash Avenue bridge opened to traffic on December 20, 1930. The bridge was built to ease traffic congestion that was especially heavy on the neighboring bridges at Michigan Ave. and State St. during the 1920's. The bridge joined Wabash Ave. on the south bank with Cass St. on the north bank of the Main Stem.

Initially proposed in 1925, plans called for the bridge to connect to a multilayer street system on the north bank of the river. This planned street was similar in purpose and extent to Wacker Dr. on the south bank. Funding issues prevented full completion of this north bank roadway.

Because Wabash Ave. and Cass St. were not directly across the river, the bridge joining the two streets needed to cross the river diagonally. Due to the location and channel width requirements this bridge had the longest trunnion-to-trunnion span of any downtown bridge until the Columbus Dr. bridge was opened in 1982.

Source: https://chicagoloopbridges.com/bridges12/MS12/WAB12-5.html?fbclid=IwAR3Omxj8kp1yO0V-Os5gINpizKdWQv_h0PqgqNyERF5RQdFD6rybxbYL_SA

Chicago Maritime Museum Chicago, Illinois

17/12/2023

ON NOVEMBER 23, 1912, THE storm sweeping down from the north had ships running for cover throughout Lake Michigan—among them, a three-masted schooner, the Rouse Simmons, filled with thousands of evergreens. Having harvested its load from the coniferous forests of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, the Rouse Simmons was eagerly anticipated at its regular berth along the Chicago River. But with no sign of the ship by Thanksgiving, five days later, families of the crew began to fear the worst.

Read the story at https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/captain-santa-christmas-tree-boat-rouse-simmons-lake-michigan-shipwrecks

Rouse Simmons Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum Great Lakes Shipwreck Archaeology

15/12/2023

South Bass Island lighthouse, Ohio.
Photo credit Susan Novak Byrnes. Great Lakes Islands Alliance Great Lakes Lighthouse Keepers Association Lake Erie Islands Conservancy

14/12/2023

What a great idea!

This 🙌

30/11/2023

RE-EXAMINING THE STORM THAT SANK THE EDMUND FITZGERALD.

Joining host Helen Brohl is Tom Hultquist, the Science and Operations Officer for the National Weather Service in Minneapolis, Minnesota. On November 10, 1975 during a severe storm, the Great Lakes bulk cargo vessel SS Edmund Fitzgerald sank with the loss of all 29 crew members in eastern Lake Superior about 17 miles from the entrance to Whitefish Bay, Michigan. The vessel sank quickly without sending a distress signal and, as we all know, the tragedy inspired Gordon Lightfoot to write his famous song. Was it the "perfect storm" or a typical "Gale of November?" What did Tom and his colleagues learn when they used modern technology to analyze the more limited meteorological data from 1975?

https://www.coastalnewstoday.com/podcasts/re-examining-the-storm-that-sunk-the-edmund-fitzgerald-north-coast-chronicles (OR WHEREVER YOU GET YOUR PODCASTS!)

Sailing and Cruising The Great Lakes great lakes ships Great Lakes Islands Alliance Great Lakes Surf Rescue Project Boatnerd Great Lakes Commission Whitefish Bay, Wisconsin Edmund Fitzgerald Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum Chicago Maritime Museum Great Lakes Shipwreck Archaeology

North Coast Chronicles: Tales of the Great Lakes | Helen Brohl | Decoding Weather: The Night Fitzgerald Sank

28/11/2023

Cold morning as the ERIEBORG makes her way into the Port of Duluth-Superior. Photo credit by Stephanie Irwin.

Shipping of the Lake Superior Region Great Lakes Islands Alliance Lake Superior I Love the Great Lakes

20/11/2023

SAIL THE GREAT LAKES!
The Interlake Steamship Company is looking to reinforce their team with experienced Unlimited Tonnage Mates and ABs who are ready to take on new challenges and opportunities.

Should you be on the lookout for a role where your maritime expertise is not only appreciated but also cultivated, they invite you to apply today. ➡️https://workforcenow.adp.com/mascsr/default/mdf/recruitment/recruitment.html?cid=85105d21-298e-4548-924a-61f5e162090e&ccId=19000101_000001&lang=en_US&selectedMenuKey=CareerCenter

Interlake Steamship Company Sailing and Cruising The Great Lakes great lakes ships

19/11/2023

Source: Lake Erie Living

This is Point Pelee, the southernmost point of continental Canada. You can walk to the very end and feel like you're in the middle of the wind and the waves. And each time you come back, the experience will be different because the land shifts with those waves and winds.

Point Pelee National Park Great Lakes Islands Alliance

17/11/2023

The Great Lakes is a chain of inland lakes – Lake Ontario, Lake Erie, Lake Huron, Lake Michigan, and Lake Superior – stretching from New York to Minnesota.

Because they comprise such a large waterway, they have played a vital role in the lives and histories of Indian peoples who have resided along their shores for millennia. Most Indian groups living in the Great Lakes region for the last five centuries are of the Algonkian language family. This includes such present-day Wisconsin tribes as the Menominee, Ojibwe, and Potawatomi. Some tribes, such as the Stockbridge-Munsee and the Brothertown, are also Algonkian-speaking tribes who relocated from the eastern seaboard to the Great Lakes region in the 19th century. The Oneida who live near Green Bay belong to the Iroquois language group and the Ho-Chunk of Wisconsin are one of the few Great Lakes tribes to speak a Siouan language. [Source: Milwaukee Public Museum].

Last December, North Coast Chronicles: Tales from the Great Lakes podcast honored the sacred water in an episode "The Water Walker: The Life and Inspiration of Josephine Mandamin" with Ms. Siobhan Marks, a narrator of the extraordinary life and legacy of Grandmother Josephine. Josephine Mandamin was an Anishinaabe First Nations grandmother, elder and founding member of the water protectors movement who was born on Manatoulin Island and lived with her husband and children in Thunder Bay, Ontario. At the age of 61, she was inspired to bring attention to the the condition of the sacred waters by walking around the Great Lakes. Listen to this extraordinary story at https://www.coastalnewstoday.com/podcasts/the-water-walker-the-life-and-inspiration-of-josephine-mandamin-north-coast-chronicles

Great Lakes Islands Alliance Great Lakes Lighthouse Keepers Association Great Lakes Commission

05/11/2023

NOW PUBLISHED! Understanding resilience of maritime transportation in a changing Great Lakes. https://www.coastalnewstoday.com/podcasts/the-times-they-are-a-changin-waterborne-transportation-resilience-in-a-changing-great-lakes-north-coast-chronicles

Did you ever wondering how coastal resilience is measured? It's important to understand how to build back better or if resilience has improved. The Great Lakes are unique and special but the methodologies to understand and measure resilience is the same - even if climate and man-made resilience factors are different. (hurricanes versus Nor'easters, for example.)

Join the latest episode of North Coast Chronicles: Tales from the Great Lakes today!!

Great Lakes Islands Alliance Great Lakes Lighthouse Keepers Association Sailing and Cruising The Great Lakes great lakes ships Lake Erie Love Lake Erie Islands Conservancy Lake Erie Islands Nature and Wildlife Center Katherine Chambers Great Lakes Commission

Press CMS Blog is a magazine-style template for all your blogging needs. With its powerful CMS, you'll be ready to publish immediately. Try its 2 different layouts and multiple sections today.

30/10/2023

Dropping on Wednesday! https://www.coastalnewstoday.com/curator/helen-brohl

North Coast Chronicles: Tales from the Great Lakes. "The Times, They Are A-Changin': Waterborne Transportation Resilience in a Changing Great Lakes" with Katherine Chambers, Physical Research Scientist with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Coastal and Hydraulics Laboratory. [https://www.linkedin.com/in/katherine-chambers-touzinsky/].

Climate scientists often summarize projected trends with the statement, “wet places will get wetter and dry places will get drier.” These changes are likely to have both positive and negative effects on water-based transportation along rivers, in lakes, and in the oceans. [Toolkit.climate.gov]. The Great Lakes is no exception. While climate impact factors may differ between regions, the methodologies for understanding the ability to prepare for, recover from, and adapt to the symptoms of a changing climate are consistent. Katherine Chambers walks us through the probable impacts to waterborne transportation and how the industry in cooperation with communities, can develop strategies to address them.

Helen Brohl is a Great Lakes gal, having grown up on the south shore of Lake Erie and a lifetime of summers on Middle Bass Island. Helen understands the Great Lakes as a valuable resource with a Master's Degree from The Ohio State University in Great Lakes Land and Water Use Policy and as an economi...

28/10/2023

My early experiences with the Ford Tri Motor were when it was in commercial service around the islands in Lake Erie. The long island about where the wheels are situated in the photo is Middle Bass Island. My mom and I were scheduled to take the Tin Goose to the mainland when I was in grade school but it flew around to other islands never stopping at MBI. So, my first time on an airplane was on a 4 seater Cessna instead! I think tears were in my eyes that first trip. You would too if you saw how short that runway was!

24/10/2023

The vision: Reversing the flow of the Chicago River and creating a network of waterways

Proposing a river reversal is one challenge, but actually delivering it is an altogether different story of determination, toil, strife and labor, and the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District (MWRD) followed through on that promise. The MWRD reversed the Chicago River in 1900 by constructing the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal to take wastewater away from Lake Michigan to send downstream, thus protecting the source of the region’s drinking water. The water was discharged to the Des Plaines River, where it could be diluted as it flowed into the Illinois River and eventually the Mississippi River. The Sanitary and Ship Canal was so successful that two more canals were built. In 1910, the North Shore Channel was completed to provide drainage to the marshy areas north of the city and to direct lake water into the North Branch of the Chicago River for dilution. The Cal-Sag Channel was ready for operation in 1922, which also was the year the first treatment plant of the Sanitary District of Chicago was finished. The Cal-Sag Channel reversed the Calumet Rivers. In total, the MWRD constructed 61.3 miles of canals and waterway improvements.

Source: https://mwrd.org/history?overridden_route_name=entity.node.canonical&base_route_name=entity.node.canonical&page_manager_page=node_view&page_manager_page_variant=node_view-panels_variant-0&page_manager_page_variant_weight=0

There was a sense of urgency creating a sanitary district due to a booming population, the fear of waterborne illness, the quality of the drinking water supply in Lake Michigan and a contaminated river. The Sanitary District’s first assignment was clear: reverse the flow of the river. To accomplis...

18/10/2023

Ship awaiting entrance in Duluth. Source. Lake Superior Ports and Shipping.

14/10/2023

Night scene under the northern lights at fully restored Crisp Point Light, MI on Lake Superior - Photo by Marybeth Kiczenski at Shelbydiamondstar Photography. From Great Lakes Lighthouse Association.

11/10/2023

Great job with a great organization in a great location!

NOAA GLERL is hiring a Research Program Specialist! This position functions as the laboratory's research project portfolio manager by working with researchers in physical and ecological modeling, oceanography, ecology, biology, observing systems, and related fields.

Apply by October 17th.

Public apply at: https://www.usajobs.gov/GetJob/ViewDetails/752582200

Apply here if you are a veteran, federal employee, individual with a disability, military spouse, family of overseas employees, or Peace Corps/AmeriCorps Vista member: https://www.usajobs.gov/job/752582000

Photo description: NOAA GLERL's Ann Arbor facility on a sunny day.

10/10/2023

The beauty of the Great Lakes is endless. This photo by Jeffrey Doty is from 5 years ago at the Northern Pier lighthouse in Duluth, MN.

06/10/2023

From Ben Rzonca Photography:
An evening storm and sunset made for a pair of remarkable rainbows while Interlake Steamship's Lee A. Tregurtha and Hon James L. Oberstar load up at the LS&I dock in Marquettes upper harbor.

23/09/2023

The Not So Secret World of Microplastics in the Great Lakes! September podcast on North Coast Chronicles: Tales from the Great Lakes is now available at https://www.coastalnewstoday.com/podcasts/the-not-so-secret-world-of-microplastics-in-the-great-lakes-north-coast-chronicles or wherever you get your podcasts!

Did you know that about 22 million pounds of plastic get into the Great Lakes each year? A study by the University of Toronto found that 90% of Great Lakes water samples over the last 10 years have unsafe microplastic levels. On the September episode of North Coast Chronicles: Tales from the Great Lakes, we share that, in a study of microplastics on 37 National Park beaches, microfibers were found at every site and made up 97% of the microplastic debris. But, the highest concentration of microplastics in this national study was found at the Apostle Islands National Seashore in Wisconsin! Andrea Densham, sustainability expert with the Alliance for Great Lakes joins us to explain the sources of these toxic microplastics, the impact on the Great Lakes ecosystem, and ways to address the crisis.

North Coast Chronicles: Tales of the Great Lakes | Helen Brohl | Microplastics in the Great Lakes Watershed!

11/09/2023

September Episode of North Coast Chronicles and the Shocking Story of Microplastics in the Great Lakes ~ drops on September 22nd.

Microplastics’ many forms include beads, fragments, pellets, film, foam, and fibers. They can be created when larger plastic items break up in sun and wave action over time, or they can be intentionally manufactured, as in microbeads and pellets. In a study of microplastics on 37 National Park beaches, microfibers were found at every site and made up 97% of the microplastic debris. BUT - the highest concentration of microplastics in this national study was found at the Apostle Islands National Seashore in Wisconsin, with an average of 221 pieces of microplastic per kilogram of sand! Modeling studies have estimated that approximately 10,000 metric tons of plastics enter the Great Lakes every year. [Source: https://www.michigan.gov/egle/newsroom/mi-environment/2023/04/04/breaking-down-the-problem-of-microplastics-in-the-great-lakes]

Watch for the September episode!

Collaborative strategies are underway to address debris from consumer products found throughout lakes.

10/09/2023

Port Clinton, Ohio Lighthouse. One of 300+ Lighthouses in the Great Lakes! Photo by Laurel Veinfortner Decker .

08/09/2023

The beauty of the Great Lakes never ceases to amaze. Arrowhead fishing pier in Superior,WI. Photo by Zach Gleason.

29/08/2023

So pleased to share the next episode of North Coast Chronicles: Tales from the Great Lakes. Honored to have as our guest, Mr. Adam Tindall-Schlicht, Administrator of the Saint Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation to share the latest Great Lakes maritime economic impact study! Check it out at:

https://lnkd.in/ggYyxGhr

This link will take you to a page that’s not on LinkedIn