"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 Barre, maritime historian at Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary & the Michigan History Center In August of 2025, Thunder Bay [...]
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 stunning. However, there is also an impressive selection of shallow shipwrecks that are great for exploring via kayak, paddleboard, or [...]
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 see the differences, but the shared passion to innovate new technology to serve our shared ocean and Great Lakes overpowers [...]
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. These soon-to-be graduates of the Marine Technology Program helped calibrate and test the equipment that will create high-resolution maps of [...]
JUNE 10th BLOG ENTRY: Hola, my name is Luis Miguel Acevedo Soto. I am a rising senior at the University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez, studying biology. I’m also part of the 2024–2026 class of the NOAA Ernest F. Hollings Scholarship Program, and thanks to this opportunity, I’ll be spending the summer here in Alpena, [...]
Teamwork took center stage—not on the field, but in the water—as student teams competed in the 2025 MATE Great Lakes Regional ROV Competition at the Great Lakes Maritime Heritage Center in Alpena. Teams were tasked with demonstrating their ROVs' (remotely operated vehicle) capabilities in the Marine Technology Training Tank as they navigated through a series [...]
Anchors play a key role in telling the story of maritime history. They’ve also become iconic symbols around the world. The BIG Anchor Project , launched by the Nautical Archaeological Society in 2008, invites volunteers (or "citizen scientists" as we often call them) to help document anchors they come across. With over 500 anchors currently [...]
On March 10, 2025, Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary researcher Andi Yoxsimer gave a talk about multibeam sonar to a group of seventh and eighth grade students at the Immanuel Lutheran School in Alpena, MI. The students are currently completing a unit about deep sea exploration and wanted to learn more about the technologies utilized [...]
NOVEMBER: THE DEADLIEST MONTH ON THE GREAT LAKES *this is a copy of a social media campaign we did in 2024 featuring November shipwrecks in Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary Facebook post from 11/3/24 But we can't just blame the weather. Other factors contributed to a higher frequency of lost ships, and unfortunately lost lives, [...]
Have you heard of FORCE BLUE and their Tour of Duty? Picture this. Retired special operations veterans + marine conservation = giving back and making an impact. Force Blue helps veterans use their unique skills to support scientists and conservationists at marine sanctuaries across the United States. We were honored to host them in Alpena [...]
