Althouse: "Long-forgotten shipwrecks of Lake Michigan revealed as unusually clear waters shed light on what lies beneath surface."

April 20, 2015

"Long-forgotten shipwrecks of Lake Michigan revealed as unusually clear waters shed light on what lies beneath surface."

"The unusual transparency has been caused by surface ice melting, unveiling the boat graveyard at the bottom of the Great Lake, before organisms like plankton conceal them once more."

8 comments:

mccullough said...: Great photos. Full fathom five, thy father lies; 4/20/15, 9:51 AM
PB said...: The priary reason for the clearing of the water of the great lakes has been the invasion of the zebra mollusk and its massive ability to filter plankton from the water.; 4/20/15, 9:54 AM
traditionalguy said...: I for one had forgotten them.; 4/20/15, 10:06 AM
Rusty said...: There's an aircraft carrier down there somewhere.; 4/20/15, 10:33 AM
Chef Mojo said...: Almighty Father, strong to save,
Whose arm hath bound the restless wave,
Who bidd'st the mighty ocean deep
Its own appointed limits keep:
O hear us when we cry to thee
For those in peril on the sea.; 4/20/15, 11:04 AM
Larry J said...: Beautifully clear water. How deep are those wrecks?; 4/20/15, 12:53 PM
Big Mike said...: The wreck of the Kamloops near Isle Royale National Park was the setting for murder in A Superior Death by Nevada Barr. The bodies of the crewmen who drowned when the Kamloops went down float saponified in the wreck 200 feet down in the ice cold waters of Lake Superior. But sport divers accidentally discovered another body, one who died some seventy years after the original wreck. Of all the murder mysteries I've read over the years this has to be one of the most unusual crime scenes.

(And if you are interested in unusual crime scenes, please use the Althouse Amazon portal to go look at the book.); 4/20/15, 1:21 PM
Fritz said...: PB said...
The priary reason for the clearing of the water of the great lakes has been the invasion of the zebra mollusk and its massive ability to filter plankton from the water.

Without knowing too much about the particulars of Lake Michigan, I would guess it's a little cold for the zebra mussels to be doing much cleaning this time of year. Bivalves don't feed fast in near freezing water.

Ice cover would prevent the winds that usually keep a little sediment stirred up from reaching the surface. Even a few calm days might be enough to get the water clear.; 4/20/15, 3:07 PM