As the year ends, we’re celebrating the incredible impact that people like you make at Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary. Through research, education, and community engagement, we worked together to protect the Great Lakes and their rich history.
Research: The sanctuary continued to serve as a hub for discovery. Scientists, archaeologists, and engineers conducted cutting-edge research and developed new technologies, advancing our understanding of the Great Lakes and improving tools for exploration.
Education: From hosting an international underwater robotics competition that brought students to Alpena from across the globe to engaging local students with hands-on programs, we connected thousands to the Great Lakes. These students experienced and explored the sanctuary through science, engineering, and maritime heritage.
Community: Nearly 100,000 people visited the Great Lakes Maritime Heritage Center this year. Open year-round and free to all, it is one of the region’s most popular destinations, inviting families, veterans, tourists, and local groups to experience the stories of our shipwrecks and the importance of protecting the Great Lakes.
To keep these programs going in 2026, we need your help. Your gift ensures that research continues, students stay engaged, and our community programs and the visitor center remain free and accessible to all. As you watch the video above, please consider making a tax-deductible donation to the Friends of the Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary.
Thank you for your support.
Whats Happening at Thunder Bay
August Lights: Featuring the 8 Sanctuary Sentinels!
"Even though lighthouses may no longer serve their original purpose with modern GPS and radar, they still hold a valuable place in our cultural heritage and in how communities connect with their past." —Don La [...]
Get Your Paddle On….in the Sanctuary!
Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary is known for the shipwrecks it protects—nearly 200, with about 100 yet to be found! So often, deep-water shipwrecks are the images we see because the preservation and detail are [...]
World Championship held at TBNMS – highlights and more!
The 2025 MATE ROV Competition World Championship brought together different languages, continents, values, time zones, resources, climates, and customs - but with a shared mission; ocean, and planet. It is easy to stand back and [...]
COLLEGE STUDENTS GET HANDS-ON EXPERIENCE IN SANCTUARY
Say hello to some hydrographers in training! In May, students from Northwestern Michigan College in Traverse City got hands-on experience with NOAA hydrographers as they kicked off a major effort to map the 4,300-square-mile sanctuary. [...]
Thunder Bay’s Signature Events
Festival of Sail
ROV Competition
Film Festival
