Diving in Lake Superior

18. August 2010 by MSchirmacher.

While on a family vacation in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, the “U.P” for those familiar with “Yoopers”, I decided to do my very first Great Lakes dive by jumping into the largest of the Great Lakes, Lake Superior. Lake Superior is the largest fresh water lake in the world, and it is approximately the size of South Carolina.  Although the lake is over 1,300 feet deep, the diving I was planning was in much shallower waters off the coast. The southern coast of Lake Superior consists of several underwater preserves which contain shipwrecks dating back to the late 1800’s up to 1975 when the SS Edmund Fitzgerald sank off the coast of Whitefish Point, Michigan.

I was diving in the Alger Underwater Preserve, which is located on the south shore of Lake Superior near the city of Munising.  This preserve is home to several well preserved largely-intact shipwrecks due to the typically cold sheltered waters of Munising Bay. There are seven known shipwrecks in this preserve and I was able to dive on two of these during on my trip. The first one was the Manhattan, which is a wooden freighter that while carrying 76,000 bushels of wheat was driven into a reef in October 1903. The impact started a fire which spread to the rest of the ship, it broke up and sank in 30’-40’ of water. On this dive I was able to see the massive timbers that made up the hull framing, many pieces of machinery, fittings and tools that were scattered about the debris field and the huge rudder with the depth markings still visible.  As this was my first real wreck dive (besides the wonders of Pearl lake) this is what I expected from a wreck this old. I was pleasantly surprised on my next dive. Pictures of the Manhattan below are courtesy of www.on-the-edge.com.

      

The second wreck I visited was the Bermuda. The Bermuda is a 135 foot wooden schooner that sank in the spring of 1870 while carrying a load of iron ore.  This wreck sits in about 30’ of water and is fully intact. The top deck of the ship is only ten feet below the surface and there was superb visibility (30 – 40 feet) which allowed me to really appreciate the size and excellent condition of this ship. There were still pieces of iron ore on the deck and in the cargo hold which also hosts a wide array of marine life, including fresh water sponges, cray fish and the occasional rock bass, that were now making a home here. Pictures of the Bermuda below are courtesy of www.scubaq.ca. 

    

 

  

Overall I was amazed that after all of this time that neither Mother Nature nor mankind had ruined either of these wrecks. I know we are all taught to leave artifacts alone, but the urge to take a souvenir back is pretty powerful.  After all of these years I was amazed to still see everything that was still as it was over a hundred years ago.  I later learned that in the state of Michigan that if you are caught removing anything from these preserves there are severe punishments, including having your boat, car, and gear confiscated, AND up to two years in jail with severe fines.

In the end I was very impressed with the diving here and will definitely be going back again and again.   For those that heard the water is too cold in Lake Superior for diving, it was a surprising 70 degrees at depth. For anyone who would like to dive these sights I would highly recommend stopping by www.shipwrecktours.com for more information.  Captain Peter Lindquist was very educational as well as entertaining. The dive boat we were on, the Fireball, was very well maintained, extremely comfortable, and well equipped.

 

- Matt Schirmacher

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