May 21, 2026
Hi everyone! My name is Zoey Crossley and I will be working at the Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary this summer through the Michigan Sea Grant Environmental Internship. I am a rising senior at Michigan State University and originally from the Detroit area. I’ve lived in Michigan all my life and am still exploring new places, so I’m looking forward to calling Alpena home for the next few months. So far, everyone has been very kind and helpful and I’m liking my time here. I was particularly excited about this internship because I am studying conservation biology, but also have a minor in anthropology. This is a super cool way for me to combine the two of those, doing the water conservation I’m passionate about while mixing it with incredibly preserved artifacts and human stories. I can’t wait to get out there and see my first shipwreck in person.
Tomorrow should be my chance to do just that! I’m heading out on the research vessel R/V Storm with visiting professor Dr. Katie Skinner to collect freshwater acidification samples from the surface while she conducts her research. I’m really looking forward to this opportunity not only to see the shipwrecks but to learn from Dr. Skinner. It’s a great opportunity to have all of these visiting professors and divers in Thunder Bay.
The freshwater acidification samples are the main reason I am here, and I have already taken some water samples from land. I took the picture to the left at Rockport when I was sampling which highlights some of the gear we use. There’s a long tube which gets clipped into a pump so that we can pump up filtered samples to fill vials which we then ship off to Dr. Reagan Errera at the Great Lakes Environmental Research Lab (GLERL) in Ann Arbor, Michigan. There they are able to track changes in pH of the lake, conductivity and temperature, partial pressure of carbon dioxide (pCO₂), dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC), and total alkalinity (TA). If you’ve been reading these blogs for a while then you may know that this program actually started in 2022, so we have collected data at these sites before. The fact that it has been done before is exactly why my job is so important. We want to collect this data so that we have a baseline of what acidification levels are sitting at so that we can track any changes over time. I look forward to continuing these site visits throughout the summer and maybe even visiting Dr. Errera in the lab to learn that side of things too.
I’ve been able to get out and explore the city of Alpena a little bit this week after work. I’m especially a fan of the Sanctuary Cinema- I’ve already been twice. Just this week I saw Michael with my new roommate and we had a good time. I may be a bit biased because I’m a fan of his music, but it was a fun time and a good roommate bonding experience. I also saw Sheep Detectives there last week with my boyfriend while he was visiting and that was also a fun time! I’m a sucker for Hugh Jackman and animals (watch Happy Feet if 
you haven’t- it has Robin Williams too so you know it’s good) and to mix that with a good murder mystery- how could you not watch?! Oh also, I must say even though I’m not always the biggest popcorn fan, Sanctuary Cinema has some good popcorn. I’ll have to get their secret butter recipe.
Next up on my list is the ice cream shop for sure – 50 degrees can’t keep me from ice cream. All weather is ice cream weather.
Bonus pic! I had a blast teaching 3rd graders about marine debris at North Point Nature Preserve.
May 28, 2026
I did it, I saw my first shipwreck!
I’ve now been able to visit three shipwrecks in the sanctuary. My first was Oscar T. Flint on Friday aboard R/V Storm while helping a group of researchers from the University of Michigan. Though this shipwreck was too deep for me to see off of the side of the boat, I was still able to see some of the footage that Dr. Skinner’s team captured with their underwater robot.
This week, I’ve been assisting on glass bottom boat tours for third grade classes, which has led me to be able to experience more shipwrecks. I’ve now seen both Haltiner Barge and W. P. Rend. It was amazing how much detail I could see, especially when it came to pieces like gears or the anchor. I loved being able to differentiate deck from crane on Haltiner Barge. It was also fun to learn more about the ships and help answer questions from the kids.
From third graders to retirees, I’ve had the chance to do all sorts of outreach work. Later in the week, Viking’s Expedition Ship Polaris came into port and I interacted with these lifelong learners much more. In the morning I manned the outreach table to tell visitors about the freshwater acidification project. I was grateful for the questions and enthusiasm guests had once I’d explained a little bit of the process. Many asked about what was causing the acidification and how bad it was as well as my general career path. I explained the role of fossil fuels in the atmosphere and how that translates to dissolved carbon in the ocean and Great Lakes since they act as large carbon ‘sinks’.
In the afternoon, I went on my first ROV (remotely operated vehicles) excursion along with a Viking group. I helped guests build their own robot for missions in the test pool. I was able to share their excitement when they finally picked up their first piece of debris from the bottom of the pool with the robot. I was so proud of them. I can imagine the excitement when ROV competitions are hosted here. After the event, I was able to try my hand at driving an ROV myself (pictured at right). Though I’m certainly no expert like the students competing, it did at least make me feel more confident than the simulation exhibit inside the museum. There I thought I had no skills at all, but here I could at least get some of the basics down.
In my free time over the holiday weekend, it was really fun to be able to explore the Alpena area. My roommate and I were able to borrow a metal detector from the library and have used that as an excuse to explore. We made it out to Negwegon State Park to comb the beach, but unfortunately, the flies did not want to give up their treasure. We were bitten away before we could find any metal there. It was not for nothing though, because on our drive down to the state park we stopped at the Dinosaur Gardens. I had a blast there. Personally, my favorite dinosaur is a pteranodon, so my face lit up when I saw it hanging “flying” in the air.
June 5th, 2026
Starting off this one the right way by saying, “I’m so proud of you Piper!” My younger sister just graduated from high school, and I’m so glad I had the chance to travel downstate for the weekend to be there. I can’t wait to have both of us at Michigan State University in the fall.
After taking Monday off for the ceremony, I had lots to jump back into at the sanctuary. I started off strong by working nearly 12 hours on R/V Storm on Tuesday. I tagged along with one of the hydrographers mapping the lake bed and took my water samples while we were stopped. Even though it was a long day it was a really productive work day. I even finished my current book on the boat ride back! I’ll have to check out Parallel 45 Books & Gifts downtown this weekend to get the sequel.
The sampling didn’t stop there though folks, On Thursday I was able to sample at three more locations for a total of 12 vials that day alone! Combine that with the samples from Storm, as well as a set from the week before, and GLERL had quiet the delivery coming their way. In the picture to the right you can get a sneak peak of what goes into packing and delivering samples so that they safely arrive at GLERL. Normally I just send one package a week like you can see (very safely using the seatbelt) in the bottom picture, but this week I sent out four packages so the back seat needed to put in its time too.
The last story I have to share with you is from my first time sampling at the Joseph S Fay. This was a day full of technical difficulties and side quests, but there’s really no better descriptor for fieldwork than that. We’d packed up all of our gear and made the drive north to 40 Mile Point Lighthouse. Once we arrived, we went to pump up the kayak and paddle board so that we could get out on the water. Only problem was, the pump wasn’t working. We couldn’t for the life of us figure out how to turn it on. We’d plugged it into every port in the car, but the pump still wouldn’t turn on. We made phone calls and tried those suggestions but still nothing. Finally we talked to one of the volunteers and he very plainly pointed out that, well, the whole inner part of the adaptor was missing. Oh. Thankfully, I’d spotted what I thought were random metal pieces on the ground earlier, so we went back to those and found all three missing pieces. The volunteer put it back together for us, and voila! The pump worked. Though a little later than anticipated, we made it out on the water.
The next hurdle, was actually finding the Fay. The buoy isn’t out yet so Sarah Morrison, Media & Outreach Specialist at TBNMS, came with us as a guide, and wow she was spot on. After roaming back and forth in our kayak that disagreed with going straight, we gasped as we were right on top of it. I’ve seen a few of the wrecks by boat now but I hadn’t paddled over one before, and it was just incredible. If anyone has the chance I would absolutely recommend it. It was so cool to be able to see through such clear and calm water right to a piece of history hiding just below the surface.
Somehow, our technical difficulties had followed us onto the water though and the pump I use to take the samples decided it didn’t want to pump anymore either. I think the two pumps were talking to each other to push back my lunch break. Eventually, I was able to mess with it enough for water to flow evenly, and we were able to take the samples. With that, we were back off to shore. Since it was my first time there I checked out the lighthouse too before we left. It’s a very nice view from the top and to have a house attached was not what I typically imagine. I wouldn’t mind living in a lighthouse I think. As a reward for all of our hard work, we stopped at The Painted Lady in Rogers City on the way back. I got a mango watermelon smoothie which was sweet and delicious and just what I needed. The hot chocolates were very tempting too, I didn’t know there were so many flavors. Next time I’m in town on a rainy day I’ll have to give one a try.
