Fun Facts of the great lakes

Blueone

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Jan 24, 2007
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Lake Erie, Ohio
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2004 420 Sundancer
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I didn’t write this or I would have mentioned St Clair :)


1. Lake Superior is actually not a lake at all, but an inland sea .

2. All of the four other Great Lakes, plus three more the size of Lake Erie, would fit inside of Lake Superior.

3. Isle Royale is a massive island surrounded by Lake Superior. Within this island are
several smaller lakes . Yes, that’s a lake on a lake.

4. Despite its massive size, Lake Superior is an extremely young formation by Earth’s standards (only 10,000 years old).

5. There is enough water in Lake Superior to submerge all of North and South America in 1 foot of water.

6. Lake Superior contains
3 quadrillion gallons of water (3,000,000,000,000,000). All five of the Great Lakes combined contain 6 quadrillion gallons.

7. Contained within Lake Superior is a whopping
10% of the world’s fresh surface water .

8. It’s estimated there are about
100 million lake trout in Lake Superior. That’s nearly one-fifth of the human population of North America!

9. There are small outlets through which water leaves Lake Superior. It takes two centuries for all the water in the laketo replace itself .

10. Lake Erie is the fourth-largest Great Lake in surface area, and the smallest in depth. It’s the 11th largest lake on the planet.

11. There is alleged to be a 30- to 40-foot-long “monster” in Lake Erie named
Bessie . The earliest recorded sighting goes back as early as 1793.

12. Water in Lake Erie
replaces itself in only 2.6 years, which is notable considering the water in Lake Superior takes two centuries.

13. The original publication of Dr. Seuss’s The Lorax contained the line, “I hear things are just as bad up in Lake Erie.”

Fourteen years later, the Ohio Sea Grant Program wrote to Seuss to make the case that conditions had improved.
He removed the line .

14. Not only is lake Erie the smallest Great Lake when it comes to volume, but it’s surrounded by
the most industry .

Seventeen metropolitan areas, each with populations of more than 50,000, border the Lake Erie basin.

15. During the War of 1812, the U.S. beat the British in a naval battle called
the Battle of Lake Erie , forcing them to abandon Detroit.

16. The shoreline of all the Great Lakes combined equals nearly 44% of the circumference of the planet.

17. If not for the the Straits of Mackinac, Lake Michigan and Lake Huron might be considered one lake.

Hydrologically speaking, they have the same mean water level and are considered
one lake .

18. The Keystone State was one of the largest and most luxurious wooden steamships running during the Civil War.

In 1861, it disappeared. In 2013, it was found 30 miles northeast of Harrisville under 175 feet of water.

19.
Goderich Mine is the largest salt mine in the world. Part of it runs underneath Lake Huron, more than 500 meters underground.

20. Below Lake Huron, there are 9,000-year-old animal-herding structures used by prehistoric people from when the water levels were significantly lower.

21. There are massive sinkholes in Lake Huron that have high amounts of sulfur and low amounts of oxygen, almost replicating the conditions of Earth’s ancient oceans 3 million years ago. Unique ecosystems are contained within them.

22. Lake Huron is the second largest among the Great Lakes, and the fifth largest in the world.

23. In size , Lake Michigan ranks third among the Great Lakes, and sixth among all freshwater lakes in the world.

24. Lake Michigan is the only Great Lake that is entirely within the borders of the United States.

25. The largest fresh water sand dunes in the world line the shores of Lake Michigan.

26. Because water enters and exits Lake Michigan through the same path, it takes 77 years longer for the water to
replace itself than in Huron, despite their similarity in size and depth. (Lake Michigan: 99 years, Lake Huron: 22 years)

27. When the temperature of Lake Michigan is below freezing,
this happens.

28. Within Lake Michigan there is a “ triangle ” with a similar reputation to the Bermuda Triangle, where a large amount of “strange disappearances” have occurred.
There have also been alleged UFO sightings.

29. Singapore, Mich., is a ghost town on the shores of Lake Michigan that was buried under sand in 1871.
Because of severe weather conditions and a lack of resources due to the need to rebuild after the great Chicago fire, the town was lost completely.

30. In the mid-19th century, Lake Michigan had a
pirate problem .
Their booty: timber. In fact, the demise of Singapore is due in large part to the rapidly deforested area surrounding the town.

31. Jim Dreyer swam across Lake Michigan in 1998 (65 miles), and then in 2003, he swam the length of Lake Michigan (422 miles).

32. Lake Michigan was the location of the first recorded “
Big Great Lakes disaster ,” in which a steamer carrying 600 people collided with a schooner delivering timber to Chicago.
Four hundred and fifty people died.

33. Lake Ontario is the smallest of the Great Lakes in surface area, and second smallest in depth. It’s the 14th largest lake on the planet.

34. The province Ontario was named after the lake, and not vice versa.

35. In 1804, a Canadian warship,
His Majesty’s Ship Speedy , sank in Lake Ontario. In 1990, wreck hunter Ed Burtt managed to find it. Only, he isn’t allowed to recover any artifacts until a government-approved site to exhibit them is found.
He’s still waiting .

36. Babe Ruth hit his first major league home run at Hanlan’s Point Stadium in Toronto.
It landed in Lake Ontario and is believed to still be there.

37. A lake on Saturn’s moon Titan is named after Lake Ontario
 
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Neat info sir.
 
Fun facts for Lake St Clair :)
  1. The State of Michigan has over 1,000,000+ registered watercraft, which is more than any other state in America. The densest concentration of boat ownership is in the city of Saint Clair Shores, Michigan on Lake St. Clair.
  2. LSC is the busiest freshwater lake in the United States of America. At 440 square miles, LSC is also the busiest body of freshwater per square mile in the world. It is repeatedly voted one of the top lakes in the world for hot girls and boat parties.
  3. Lake St. Clair is 26-miles long, 24-miles wide, has 160-miles of shoreline and an average depth of 10-feet. As a comparison, Lake Superior, has a max depth of 1,332 feet. LSC is warm and shallow, just like trophy wife arm candy, so make sure you watch out for submerged sandbars!
  4. The Great Lakes contain 84% of North America’s surface freshwater. That is an enormous amount of water. The Great Lakes, if poured over the United States, could submerge the entire Continental United States in over 9.5 feet of water!

    Great Lakes System Profile
  5. We know Lake St. Clair is not an official “Great Lake” but it’s still a great lake! It was “discovered” byFrench explorers in August 1679. Montreal fur traders in canoe flotillas were sailing around LSC over 300 years ago having their own “Jobbie Nooner” with local topless Native American honeys and doing raspberry fig jello shots and cannonballs into the water.

    Old magazine cover
  6. LSC is part of the international waterway between the USA and Canada that connects Lake Huron with Lake Erie in the Great Lakes Basin. The northeastern portion of Lake St. Clair is the largest delta system in the world.
  7. USA and Canada share a one-mile long water border on Lake St. Clair, which is marked by the South Channel buoys. This is the official half-way point between USA and Canada.
 
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Thanks for the read! Believe it or not I was most astonished about #36. Lol imagine finding that Babe Ruth ball today! So cool
 
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The governments of SW United States periodically float a request to divert Lake Michigan water via a pipeline to that part of our country to support more development. Thankfully, the Great Lake states and Canada have been successful in blocking this idea. We need to remain vigilant.
 
really cool. We love it up here (when it's not frozen like it is right now)
 
1. Lake Superior is actually not a lake at all, but an inland sea .
whats the difference?
8. 100 million lake trout in Lake Superior.
so why i spend $100 on lures and cant catch a fish?
11. There is alleged to be a 30- to 40-foot-long “monster” in Lake Erie named Bessie
that was my ex-wife swimming!
12. Water in Lake Erie replaces itself in only 2.6 years, which is notable considering the water in Lake Superior takes two centuries
Thats cause we flush.
 
The Great Lakes has more coastline than the East, West, and Gulf coasts combined.

Some folks on the Long Island Sound think they're boating the 'big water' as opposed to us lake boaters....;)
View attachment 98950
I didn’t really appreciate the size of the lakes. I’ve never thought of LIS as big water though. I don’t mind because it’s big enough to do some real boating, and small enough to have lots of destinations in easy reach. It gets real right on the western end - wave action can make it feel like a washing machine.
 
Blue what is the worst sea's you have experienced on the lakes. Being a river boater 2-3' is as bad as it gets and that is seldom. Winds from storm front, Trump boat parade was actually the worst I had seen,
 
Blue what is the worst sea's you have experienced on the lakes. Being a river boater 2-3' is as bad as it gets and that is seldom. Winds from storm front, Trump boat parade was actually the worst I had seen,

Lake Michigan will routinely get 15'+ waves in November, however this picture was from my launch day this past year.

Water was up 3' in the river my boat is stored off of, needless to say I took a transient slip for a few days before heading the 15 miles to my slip.

upload_2021-2-6_17-53-59.png


At my marina, the docks were inaccessible as the lake had come into the parking lot...

upload_2021-2-6_17-55-23.png
 
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I didn’t really appreciate the size of the lakes. I’ve never thought of LIS as big water though. I don’t mind because it’s big enough to do some real boating, and small enough to have lots of destinations in easy reach. It gets real right on the western end - wave action can make it feel like a washing machine.

I have boated only twice on LIS and it reminded me a lot of Lake Erie. The “washing machine” of confused seas at times. The biggest impression though was the fog in early May. We had bought a boat over the winter in CT and went to enjoy it and visit some LIS ports before bringing it home. It seamed as though almost every day until late morning the north shore was socked in with fog.
You have a nice long season too, at least compared to us. We sea trialed in mid November on a beautiful sweat shirt day.
We are deer hunting in snow mid November, boats have been put away for weeks. When we went back again it was summer, beautiful. You do have some great destinations.
 
Blue what is the worst sea's you have experienced on the lakes. Being a river boater 2-3' is as bad as it gets and that is seldom. Winds from storm front, Trump boat parade was actually the worst I had seen,
10’ to 12’ rollers in Lake Ontario .... I just asked my wife to confirm and she said they were 50 footers :) ...we had a group go over from Oakville to Lewiston .....Sunday the weather went to hell a friend with a 30’ sea Ray weekender took my wife I followed in a 21’ sea Ray cuddy...out we went. It was full throttle up the wave and neutral down the backside... losing site of the 30’ sea Ray in the swells....it was crazy and stupid at the same time
 
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10’ to 12’ rollers in Lake Ontario .... I just asked my wife to confirm and she said they were 50 footers :) ...we had a group go over from Oakville to Lewiston .....Sunday the weather went to hell a friend with a 30’ sea Ray weekender took my wife I followed in a 21’ sea Ray cuddy...out we went. It was full throttle up the wave and neutral down the backside... losing site of the 30’ in the swells....it was crazy and stupid at the same time

we all seem to have those stories. Our first crossing in our 290 to Canada included something to that effect. Closer to 4-6’ rollers in reality, but it took almost 5 hours to go from rochester to cobourg (60miles) and I don’t think I’ve ever been as tired as I was after that trip. Constant working of the throttle, burned a ton of fuel, and had 6 people on board who had no idea what they were getting into.

we lived! And it was a fun trip once we
Landed
 
IMG_3529.JPG
we all seem to have those stories. Our first crossing in our 290 to Canada included something to that effect. Closer to 4-6’ rollers in reality, but it took almost 5 hours to go from rochester to cobourg (60miles) and I don’t think I’ve ever been as tired as I was after that trip. Constant working of the throttle, burned a ton of fuel, and had 6 people on board who had no idea what they were getting into.

we lived! And it was a fun trip once we
Landed
 
Great thread. Here is some interesting history of my home port of Penetanguishene. Some background is that the bordering towns of Midland and Penetanguishene were settled by the English and French in separate small towns on two separate Bays off Georgian Bay. Champlain and Brule were the first French and came there in the late 1700s, but fur traders were there earlier in the 1600s. Midland was originally started in the 1600's by Jesuits trying to bring Christianity to the natives and then the British came shortly later. There is still a distinct French and English feel to the two towns and surrounding areas. French language is still very predominant in the Penetanguishene area many centuries later.

One little known fact is before and after the war of 1812, Penetanguishene became the one of the largest British naval outposts in the world including a shipyard to build sailing warships suitable for the Great Lakes. The Brits were worried the US may try to invade Upper Canada (Ontario) from the northern lakes so they built up their fleet in that area. Considering the dangerous granite shoals in and around that side of Georgian Bay, it would have been very difficult for an invading fleet of sailing ships to come and fight a battle in our waters, which is probably why it didn't happen. After things settled down after the Brits won the war, the focus moved back south and the naval outpost was shut down.
 
ZkIiqE8N.jpeg
Great thread. Here is some interesting history of my home port of Penetanguishene. Some background is that the bordering towns of Midland and Penetanguishene were settled by the English and French in separate small towns on two separate Bays off Georgian Bay. Champlain and Brule were the first French and came there in the late 1700s, but fur traders were there earlier in the 1600s. Midland was originally started in the 1600's by Jesuits trying to bring Christianity to the natives and then the British came shortly later. There is still a distinct French and English feel to the two towns and surrounding areas. French language is still very predominant in the Penetanguishene area many centuries later.

One little known fact is before and after the war of 1812, Penetanguishene became the one of the largest British naval outposts in the world including a shipyard to build sailing warships suitable for the Great Lakes. The Brits were worried the US may try to invade Upper Canada (Ontario) from the northern lakes so they built up their fleet in that area. Considering the dangerous granite shoals in and around that side of Georgian Bay, it would have been very difficult for an invading fleet of sailing ships to come and fight a battle in our waters, which is probably why it didn't happen. After things settled down after the Brits won the war, the focus moved back south and the naval outpost was shut down.

Navigation is the Georgian Bay is pretty intimidating with modern electronics. Can't imagine traveling by sailing ships in that area.
 

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