Shipwrecks Revealed in Lake Michigan

A United States Coast Guard crew encountered some hidden history in the clear blue, post-winter waters of Northern Lake Michigan.

The crew took a series of photographs of shipwrecks lying on the lake bottom in the waters off the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore.

The Grand Rapids Press reports that the Traverse City-based helicopter was a on a routine patrol when the crew spotted the wrecks and got pictures of them.

The shallow waters of the lake off the Leelanau Peninsula near Leland are the site of many 19th and early 20th century shipwrecks. The area is known as the Manitou Passage, between the mainland of the northwestern Lower Peninsula and North and South Manitou Islands.

Among the wrecks that the crew photographs include the Rising Sun, a 133′ wooden steamer, which foundered in 1917. It was stranded just north of Pyramid Point, and now pieces of her wreckage lie in 6′ to 12′ feet  of water.

Another was the James McBride, a 121′ brig that ran aground in 1857. This shipwreck was caused after McBride encountered a gale and was driven ashore near Sleeping Bear Dunes. Her remains can be found in 5′ to 15′ of water near Sleeping Bear Point.

The United States Park Service, which manages the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, announced last month that the wreckage of the Jennie & Annie was now visible again on the beach halfway between North and South Bar lakes. The schooner grounded off Empire in 1872. The shipwreck is visible every few years.

Various shipwreck fragments periodically become visible along the dunes shoreline due to beach erosion, wind, waves, and variable lake levels. The wrecks are considered public property and cannot legally be disturbed.

Source: MSN