Great Lakes Daily News

There are well over 6,000 shipwrecks between the five Great Lakes, the most well-known, of course, being the SS Edmund Fitzgerald. In recent years, especially around northeast Wisconsin, shipwreck discoveries have been on the rise. Read the full story by WLUK-TV – Green Bay, MI.

Research from Michigan State University (MSU) is protecting the Great Lakes from a dangerous threat looming specifically in and around Lake Erie. For roughly a decade, MSU scientists have been studying grass carp using acoustic telemetry, which incorporates sound to track populations of fish, where underwater acoustic receivers collect data on fish surgically tagged with acoustic transmitters. Read the full story by Morning Ag Clips.

Most reefs are associated with tropical waters and colorful fish, not the Great Lakes, but Saginaw Bay was once the home of many rock reefs. Created by glacial activity, the reefs provided a habitat for the bay’s fish. Over time, reef habitat was lost, buried by sediment due to logging, manufacturing and agricultural activity in the area. Now, efforts are underway to restore this lost habitat. Read the full story by WNEM-TV – Bay City, MI.

To commemorate the 50th anniversary of the SS Edmund Fitzgerald going down during a violent Lake Superior storm in November of 1975, dozens of swimmers braved those same waters to finish the journey the ship and her crew never could. Read the full story by WLUK-TV – Green Bay, WI.

The city of Manistee, Michigan, will spend an estimated $105,502 to investigate PFAS migration originating from the city’s former landfill site on Adamczak Road. Read the full story by the Huron Daily Tribune.

The sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald remains a pivotal moment in maritime history, prompting significant safety advancements in Great Lakes shipping over the past 50 years. In the wake of the Fitzgerald disaster, the U.S. Coast Guard implemented stricter training requirements, including the use of life-saving devices and immersion suits to protect against hypothermia. Read the full story by WPBN – Traverse City, MI.

According to the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, European frog-bit, an invasive aquatic plant, has been confirmed in two locations near Lake Michigan: in the lower Grand River, immediately upstream of Grand Haven, in Ottawa County, and in Pentwater Lake in Oceana County. Read the full story by WDIV – Detroit, MI.

In Illinois, the city of Evanston’s Climate Action and Resilience Plan Implementation Task Force signed off on the current draft of a Lakefront Protection Ordinance to set a unified policy to regulate development and protect natural habitats and shoreline along Lake Michigan. Read the full story by the Evanston RoundTable.

Edmund Fitzgerald was a businessman in Wisconsin and the president of Northwestern Mutual in Milwaukee, which owned the ship. His roots in the Great Lakes ran deep, with several relatives working in the maritime trade. Read the full story by WOOD-TV – Grand Rapids, MI.

The Michigan Natural Resources Commission voted Thursday to expand the areas where people can spearfish lake trout, northern pike and walleye. Starting in April 2026, anglers will be allowed to spearfish for the three gamefish in parts of Lake Erie and Lake Superior and expanded portions of Lake Michigan. Read the full story by Bridge Michigan.