constitutes a microcosm of the Great Lakes commercial shipping industry spanning the last 200 years. The collection reflects transitions in ship architecture and construction, from wooden schooners to early steel-hulled steamers, as well as several unusual vessel types.
Together, these shipwrecks tell a story of a time when schooners and steamers ruled the lakes, linking America’s heartland to the east coast and the world. Individually, they tell a story of the thousands of sailors who made their living, and sometimes lost their lives, taking risks in some of the world’s most treacherous waters.
These shipwrecks are tangible links to the past. They are irreplaceable and deserve protection.
Protecting through Connecting
For the past fifteen years, Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary has worked closely with the community to develop innovative education and outreach programs, thus ensuring broad and diverse engagement. People from all over the world have connected to our Great Lakes past by climbing aboard a life-sized schooner in the sanctuary’s visitor center, traversing a beautiful shoreline trail, and accessing these protected sites directly through the many shallow water recreational opportunities, such as free diving.
With the sanctuary’s mooring buoy program, visitors are encouraged to connect with these cultural resources firsthand. Seasonal buoys allow paddlers, snorkelers, divers, and boat tours direct and easy access to more than 30 sanctuary shipwreck sites. (Continued on page 53)
Many sanctuary shipwrecks are shallow enough to visit by snorkeling. Below: a snorkeler visits the site of the Albany, sunk in 1853 and comes face to face with the Shipwreck Century. David Ruck, NOAA. Following page: The 1905 wreck of the Joseph S. Fay looms just below the surface of Lake Huron. Shawn Parkin
the site of the Joseph S. Fay, sunk in 1905 and comes face to face with the Shipwreck Century.
Shawn Parkin
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