The Whitefish Point Underwater Preserve was established in 1987 to protect and conserve shipwrecks and historical resources on 376 square miles (973.8 km²) of Lake Superior

Lake Superior

Lake Superior is the largest of the five traditionally-demarcated Great Lakes of North America. It is bounded to the north by the Canadian province of Ontario and the U.S. state of Minnesota, and to the south by the U.S. states of Wisconsin and Michigan. It is the largest freshwater lake in the...

 bottomlands in Whitefish Bay

Whitefish Bay

Whitefish Bay is a large bay on the eastern end of the southern shore of Lake Superior between Michigan and Ontario. It begins in the north and west at Whitefish Point in Michigan, about 10 miles north of Paradise, Michigan and ends at the St. Marys River at Sault Ste. Marie on the southeast...

 and around Whitefish Point, Michigan

Michigan

Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....

. The formation of the Michigan Underwater Preserves

Michigan Underwater Preserves

Michigan Underwater Preserves or Michigan Bottomland Preserves are protected areas of the Great Lakes on Michigan's coast. The eleven designated areas, comprising a surface area of over , are considered to be "Underwater museums" and serve to protect concentrations of shipwrecks, unique geologic...

 helped stop controversy over artifact

Artifact (archaeology)

An artifact or artefact is "something made or given shape by man, such as a tool or a work of art, esp an object of archaeological interest"...

 removal from shipwrecks of this area. The preserve is now known for deep, well preserved shipwrecks in clear water accessible to scuba divers with technical skill and experience. The preserve is one of the last places in the Great Lakes

Great Lakes

The Great Lakes are a collection of freshwater lakes located in northeastern North America, on the Canada – United States border. Consisting of Lakes Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario, they form the largest group of freshwater lakes on Earth by total surface, coming in second by volume...

 to observe shipwrecks without zebra mussel

Zebra mussel

The zebra mussel, Dreissena polymorpha, is a small freshwater mussel. This species was originally native to the lakes of southeast Russia being first described in 1769 by a German zoologist Peter Simon Pallas in the Ural, Volga and Dnieper rivers. They are still found nearby, as Pontic and Caspian...

 encrustation.

History

Shipwrecks along the southern Lake Superior coast known as the “Graveyard of the Great Lakes” dramatically increased after the first lock on the St. Marys River opened this coastline to shipping in 1855., Every vessel entering or leaving Lake Superior must pass Whitefish Point. The Whitefish Point Light first established in 1849 is arguably the most important light on Lake Superior. More vessels have been lost in the Whitefish Point area than any other part of Lake Superior. Between the loss of the Invincible in 1816 and the sinking of the SS Edmund Fitzgerald

SS Edmund Fitzgerald

The SS Edmund Fitzgerald was an American Great Lakes freighter that made headlines after sinking in a Lake Superior storm on November 10, 1975, with the loss of the entire crew of 29. When launched on June 8, 1958, she was the largest boat on North America's Great Lakes, and she remains...

 in 1975, the Whitefish Point area has claimed at least 240 ships. Vessels are funneled through Whitefish Bay downbound

Downbound

Downbound - A direction a vessel is moving in the Great Lakes region. The St. Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation uses term for eastward movements of cargo. The U.S. Coast Guard uses the term for vessels following the current....

 and upbound

Upbound

Upbound - A direction a vessel is moving in the Great Lakes region. The St. Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation uses the term for westward movements of cargo. The U.S. Coast Guard uses the term for vessels proceeding against the current....

 from the Soo Locks

Soo Locks

The Soo Locks are a set of parallel locks which enable ships to travel between Lake Superior and the lower Great Lakes. They are located on the St. Marys River between Lake Superior and Lake Huron, between the Upper Peninsula of the US state of Michigan and the Canadian province of Ontario...

. Poor visibility from forest fire smoke, snow squalls, and Lake Superior’s notorious fogs had deadly consequences with the traffic congestion. Lake Superior’s 160 miles (257.5 km) of open water and storms from the northwest can build immense seas with offshore waves of 30 feet (9.1 m) or more. Such a storm sank the SS Edmund Fitzgerald 17 miles (27.4 km) from Whitefish Point in 1975.

Sport diver Harrington reported that many of the shipwrecks of the Whitefish Point Underwater Preserve were "stripped of important artifacts

Artifact (archaeology)

An artifact or artefact is "something made or given shape by man, such as a tool or a work of art, esp an object of archaeological interest"...

 in the 1970s and early 1980s. The State of Michigan filed a lawsuit against the Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society (GLSHS) for illegal removal of artifacts from Great Lakes bottomlands. The Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR) obtained a search warrant in 1992 and raided on the GLSHS’s offices and Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum

Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum

The Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum is located at the Whitefish Point Light Station north of Paradise in Chippewa County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The light station property was transferred to the Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society , the Michigan Audubon Society , and the United States...

. The DNR found evidence the Shipwreck Society had:

Many of the artifacts removed from shipwrecks by the GLSHS without permits are displayed at the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum

Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum

The Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum is located at the Whitefish Point Light Station north of Paradise in Chippewa County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The light station property was transferred to the Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society , the Michigan Audubon Society , and the United States...

 at Whitefish Point by a settlement agreement with the state of Michigan. The sport diving community raised a furious outcry over the disparity of special treatment for the museum divers who received no criminal prosecution while individual sport divers were prosecuted freely during the late 1980s and 1990s for removal of artifacts from shipwrecks. To this day many sport divers boycott the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum.

Preserve formation

The Whitefish Point Underwater Preserve was established in 1987 to protect some of the region’s most sensitive underwater natural and cultural resources with the central objective to provide enhanced management of shipwrecks. The Whitefish Point Underwater Preserve is administered through the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality

Michigan Department of Environmental Quality

The Michigan Department of Environmental Quality was the agency of the state of Michigan charged with "Protecting Michigan's Environment - Ensuring Michigan's Future"-History:...

 Submerged Lands Program and the Michigan Department of History, Arts and Libraries

Michigan Department of History, Arts and Libraries

The Michigan Department of History, Arts and Libraries was an agency of the U.S. state of Michigan. Its official name was Michigan History, Arts and Libraries and its acronym was MHAL...

 of the Michigan Historical Center.

Scuba divers and history enthusiasts now help ensure the integrity of the preserve which is considered an underwater museum.

Features

Many of the twenty-three known shipwrecks lying in depths from 30 feet (9.1 m) to 270 feet (82.3 m) are moored

Mooring

Mooring may refer to:* Mooring , any device used to hold secure an object by means of cables, anchors, or lines* Mooring mast, a structure designed to hold airships and blimps securely in the open when they are not in flight....

 to protect the wrecks and enhance the safety of divers.
The preserve has good visibility and offers deep water diving on a variety of shipwrecks. The preserve is one of the last places in the Great Lakes to observe shipwrecks without zebra mussel encrustation. Dry suit

Dry suit

A dry suit or drysuit provides thermal insulation or passive thermal protection to the wearer while immersed in water, and is worn by divers, boaters, water sports enthusiasts, and others who work or play in or near cold water. A dry suit normally protects the whole body except the head, hands, and...

s are recommended due to cold temperatures and unprotected coves or bays. Most of the dive sites are deep and divers must be certain of their ability and their equipment before they attempt to dive in this preserve.

Whitefish Point Underwater Preserve Shipwrecks

Site name	Type	Depth	Coordinates	Disaster History
Allegheny	Wood schooner Schooner A schooner is a type of sailing vessel characterized by the use of fore-and-aft sails on two or more masts with the forward mast being no taller than the rear masts....	30 feet (9 m)	46°46.016′N 85°10.601′W	Stranded at Crisp Point in a gale on 6 June 1913. Crew rescued by Vermilion Point Life-saving Station Vermilion Point Vermilion Point is a remote, undeveloped shore with a rich history lying west of Whitefish Point, Michigan, on a stretch of Lake Superior’s southeast coast known as the "Graveyard of the Great Lakes" or, in the title of a book by noted Great Lakes maritime historian , ""...  crew with no loss of life.
Comet Comet (steamboat) The SS Comet was a steamship that operated on the Great Lakes. The Comet was built in 1857 as a wooden-hulled propeller-driven cargo vessel that was soon adapted to carry passengers. She suffered a series of maritime accidents prior to her final sinking in 1875 causing the loss of ten lives...	Wood propeller Propeller A propeller is a type of fan that transmits power by converting rotational motion into thrust. A pressure difference is produced between the forward and rear surfaces of the airfoil-shaped blade, and a fluid is accelerated behind the blade. Propeller dynamics can be modeled by both Bernoulli's...  steamer Steamboat A steamboat or steamship, sometimes called a steamer, is a ship in which the primary method of propulsion is steam power, typically driving propellers or paddlewheels...  tug Tug Tuğ is a village in the Khojavend Rayon of Azerbaijan....	200 feet (61 m) to 230 feet (70 m)	46°43.02′N 84°52.00′W	Sank 26 August 1875 after colliding with the Manitoba above Whitefish Point with the loss of ten lives.
John B. Cowle SS John B. Cowle (1902) The SS John B. Cowle was one of the early Great Lakes bulk freighters known as "tin pans". She was the first of two ships named for prominent Cleveland, Ohio citizen and shipbuilder, John Beswick Cowle. On her maiden voyage in 1909, the Isaac M. Scott rammed the Cowle in heavy fog off Whitefish...	Steel propeller bulk freighter	170 feet (52 m) to 200 feet (61 m)	46°44.435′N 84°57.877′W	Sank 12 July 1909 in Whitefish Bay Whitefish Bay Whitefish Bay is a large bay on the eastern end of the southern shore of Lake Superior between Michigan and Ontario. It begins in the north and west at Whitefish Point in Michigan, about 10 miles north of Paradise, Michigan and ends at the St. Marys River at Sault Ste. Marie on the southeast...  after colliding with the Isaac M. Scott with the loss of fourteen lives out of a twenty-four man crew.
Drake SS M.M. Drake (1882) The SS M.M. Drake was a wooden steam barge that towed consorts loaded with coal and iron ore on the Great Lakes. She came to the rescue of the crews of at least 4 foundering vessels in her 9 year career only to meet the same fate in her final rescue attempt. The Drake sank in 1882 off Vermilion...	Wood propeller bulk freighter	40 feet (12 m) to 50 feet (15 m)	46°46.588′N 85°05.933′W	Foundered 2 October 1901 off Vermilion Point, along with her tow, the schooner, Michigan. Crew of both vessels were rescued by the propellers Northern Wave and Superior City with no loss of life.
Eureka	Wood schooner barge Barge A barge is a flat-bottomed boat, built mainly for river and canal transport of heavy goods. Some barges are not self-propelled and need to be towed by tugboats or pushed by towboats...	50 feet (15 m) to 55 feet (17 m)	46°50.15′N 85°10.76′W	Disappeared 20 October 1886 after separating from the steamer Prentice 5 miles (8 km) off Vermillion Point with the loss of all 6 crew members.
Indiana	Wooden schooner barge	100 feet (30 m) to 115 feet (35 m)	46°48.66′N 085°17.16′W	Sank 6 June 1858 40 miles (64.4 km)above Whitefish Point and 10 miles (16.1 km) from shore with the crew of twenty-one taking to the life boats before she sank.
Jupiter	Wooden schooner barge			Driven ashore near Vermilion Point 27 November 1872 in an arctic gale when the towline parted from steamer John A. Dix and the schooner Saturn.
Samuel Mather SS Samuel Mather (1887) The SS Samuel Mather was the first of seven U.S. merchant ships to bear that name. The wooden Mather sank in 1891 after she was rammed by the steel freighter Brazil in heavy fog in Whitefish Bay from Point Iroquois, ending the Mather's 4 year career...	Wooden propeller	140 feet (43 m) to 170 feet (52 m)	46°34.308′N 084°42.325′W	Sank 21 November 1891 in a collision with the Brazil in off Point Iroquois in Whitefish Bay with no loss of life.
John Mitchell	Steel freighter	120 feet (37 m) to 150 feet (46 m)	46°50.05′N 85°04.81′W	Sank 10 July 1911 off Whitefish Point in a collision with William Henry Mack with the loss of three lives.
Miztec Miztec (schooner barge) The Miztec was built as a 3-masted schooner in 1890. She was later converted to a barge and served as a consort for lumber hookers on the Great Lakes. She escaped destruction in a severe 1919 storm that sank her longtime companion, the SS Myron, only to sink on the traditional day of bad luck,...	Wooden schooner barge	45 feet (14 m) to 55 feet (17 m)	46°48.073′N 85°04.500′W	Foundered 13 May 1921 off Vermilion Point with the loss of all seven crew.
Myron SS Myron The SS Myron was a wooden steamship built in 1888. She spent her 31 year career as lumber hooker towing schooner barges on the Great Lakes. She sank in 1919 in a Lake Superior November gale with the loss of all her crewmen but her captain who was found drifting on wreckage near Ile Parisienne. ...	Wooden propeller, lumber hooker Lumber hooker Lumber hooker is a nautical term for a Great Lakes ship designed to carry her own deck load of lumber and to tow one or two barges. The barges were large old schooners stripped of their masts and running gear to carry large cargoes of lumber....	45’ to 55’	46°48.463′N 85°01.646′W	Foundered 1.5 miles (2.4 km) west of Whitefish Point on 23 November 1919 with barge Miztec in tow. Seventeen lives were lost from the Myron. Only the Captain survived. He was picked up by the W.C. Franz when he was found drifting on wreckage near Ile Parisienne Ile Parisienne Ile Parisienne is a remote, undeveloped Canadian island located in the middle of Whitefish Bay. Its light station serves as a critical aid to navigation on a major shipping lane in Lake Superior. The light tower was listed on the Canadian Register of Historic Places in 1991... .
Neshoto	Wood propeller	45 feet (14 m) to 55 feet (17 m)	46°49.173′N 85°07.488′W	Blinded from forest fire smoke, driven ashore and stranded 2.5 miles (4 km) east of Crisp Point Light, crew rescued by Crisp Point Life Saving Crew.
Niagara	Wood schooner barge	90 feet (27 m) to 100 feet (30 m)	46°49.173′N 85°07.488′W	Foundered 7 Sept 1887 after breaking tow from the steamer Australasia 7 miles (11.3 km) northwest of Whitefish Point Light, all hands, 9 lives lost.
Alexander Nimick	Wood propeller	100 feet (30 m)	46°45.743′N 85°12.982′W	Pounded to pieces in 27 feet (8 m) of water on 21 September 1907 after she was stranded on a sandbar near the mouth of the Two Hearted River Two Hearted River The Two Hearted River is a short river, approximately 25 mi long in northern Michigan in the United States. It drains a forested wilderness area of the eastern Upper Peninsula into Lake Superior. It rises in several short branches in northeastern Luce County approximately 15 mi southeast of Grand...  with the loss of 6 lives. The 11 survivors made it to shore by lifeboat.
Ora Endress S. S.	Fish tug	13 feet (4 m) to 15 feet (5 m)		Capsized and sank about 1 miles (1.6 km) west of Whitefish Point. The Whitefish Point lighthouse keeper and 2 other men rescued all 11 crewmembers.
John M. Osborn John M. Osborn (steamboat) The John M Osborn’s short career as a wooden steam barge lasted just two years. The Osborn sank with the loss of five lives when she was rammed by the larger, steel hulled Alberta who was called a “steel monster" and "terror of the lakes". The Osborn’s wreck was discovered 100 years after her...	Wooden propeller	165 feet (50 m)	46°51.974′N 85°05.210′W	Sank 27 July 1884 in a collision with the Alberta 6 miles (9.7 km) west-northwest of Whitefish Point with the loss of 3 lives.
Panther	Wood propeller	90 feet (27 m) to 110 feet (34 m)	46°51.974′N 80°05.210′W	Sank 26 June 1916 in a collision in a fog with the James H. Hill off Parisienne Island in Whitefish Bay with no loss of life.
Sadie Thompson	Wooden barge	80 feet (24 m) to 114 feet (35 m)	46°42.512′N 84°59.856′W	Broke free and sank 1 miles (1.6 km) south of Whitefish Point during the construction of the Harbor of Refuge in 1967.
Sagamore SS Sagamore (1892) The SS Sagamore is reported to be the best example of a whaleback barge among Great Lakes shipwrecks. Only 48 whalebacks ever existed on the Great Lakes. She sank in 1901 in the shipping lane near the Soo Locks when she was rammed by the steel steamer Northern Queen in one of Whitefish Bay's...	Whaleback Whaleback A cargo steamship of unique design, with a hull that continuously curved above the waterline from vertical to horizontal leaving, when fully loaded, only the rounded portion of the hull above the waterline, was unofficially called a "whaleback". With sides curved in towards the ends, it had a...  barge	45 feet (14 m) to 65 feet (20 m)	45°31.089′N 84°37.927′W	Sank 29 July 1901 in a collision with propeller Northern Queen near Point Iroquois in Whitefish Bay with the loss of 2 lives.
Saturn	Wood schooner barge	20 feet (6 m)	46°45.952′N 85°01.547′W	Pounded to pieces 27 November 1872 after grounding just west of Whitefish Point after breaking her towline with steam John A. Dix and sister Jupiter with the loss of 7 lives.
Superior City	Steel freighter	190 feet (58 m) to 270 feet (82 m)	46°43.51′N 84°52.37′W	Sank 20 August 1920 after her boilers exploded in a collision with steamer Willis L. King with the loss of 29 lives.
Vienna	Wood propeller	120 feet (37 m) to 148 feet (45 m)	46°44.46′N 84°57.91′W	Sank 17 September 1873 after a collision with propeller Nipigon about 4 miles (6.4 km) below Whitefish Point with no loss of life.
Zillah	Wood propeller	230 feet (70 m) to 250 feet (76 m)	46°43.75′N 84°54.97′W	Foundered 4 miles (6.4 km) off Whitefish Point 29 August 1926. Her crew of 14 were rescued by the U.S. Coast Guard and the William B. Schiller.

External links

• Michigan Underwater Preserve Council – Whitefish Point
• Whitefish Point Underwater Preserve
• DEQ – Whitefish Point Underwater Preserve
• Michigan Shipwreck Site