Presented by LTJG Hunter Brendel Lieutenant (junior grade) Hunter Brendel will speak about the NOAA Commissioned Officer Corps, the nation’s smallest uniformed service comprised of 321 officers. NOAA Corps operates NOAA’s fleet of 16 ships and nine aircraft that conduct scientific operations throughout the United States and internationally. Officers also take [...]
Great Lakes, Great Films Every year, the Friends of Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary bring the world of cinema to Alpena! For five days in January, northeast Michigan is treated to some of the most impressive ocean and Great Lakes films from around the world. Film screenings are complemented by social events, educational activities, and opportunities [...]
ALPENA, MICH --The Thunder Bay International Film Festival kicks off the 20th anniversary year celebrating the Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary’s (TBNMS) federal designation. TBNMS was officially designated in 2000 as the first freshwater marine sanctuary of the 14 nationally designated underwater parks. While more than 1,000 students from communities along the sanctuary’s shoreline are [...]
Come to the sanctuary’s latest in the Sanctuary Cinema Series! November 22, 1912: The schooner Rouse Simmons departs upper Michigan ferrying 5,000 Christmas trees to Chicago. The ship disappears, and for 60 years there’s no trace of it. In 1971 a scuba diver discovers the legendary, lost “Christmas Tree Ship.” (2013, 50 minutes, no rating) [...]
Great Lakes Maritime Historian Patrick Labadie describes the introduction and subsequent development of the iconic Great Lakes vessels, and their effect on the Midwest. The commerce of the American Midwest has always been closely linked with the efficiency of Great Lakes transportation. Eighteenth-century fur trade, 19th century agriculture, lumbering and mining were all dependent upon [...]
The desolate Lake Superior shoreline between Whitefish Point in Michigan's Eastern Upper Peninsula and the area of Grand Marais, MI, is littered with a multitude of shipwrecks. Some occurred as early as the 1816 wreck of the schooner Invincible, while newer, larger wrecks are deep within the shipping lanes. The 729' SS Edmund Fitzgerald is [...]
Crossing Superior follows a riveting 60-mile journey three men took with their paddle boards across a lake that is often a force to be reckoned with. Eleven-time Emmy award winner Corey Adkins tagged along to document the 22-hour journey with Stand Up for Great Lakes, including humored encounters with freighters, a permit to do something [...]
Come to the sanctuary’s latest in the Sanctuary Cinema Series! Narrated by maritime author Frederick Stonehouse, this documentary film explores Great Lakes lighthouse hauntings at Whitefish Point, Big Bay Point, Old Presque Isle, and Seul Choix Point! (1999 & 2003 film by Don Hermanson, 60 minutes, no rating) Free and open to the public.
Join children’s author Carol Trembath to learn about her experience writing the Water Walkers Series: Water Walkers, Stepping Stones, and Ripples and Waves. These beautifully written and illustrated books are told from the perspective of an Ojibway girl whose family members are walking around the Great Lakes to raise awareness about harm being done to our [...]
Adventure enthusiasts Gary and Ely Irving are back with a new season, highlighting four locations in Northern Michigan that are a must to check off on your outdoor sports bucket list. From snorkeling 19th-century shipwrecks to cross-country skiing in the dead of winter, these trips take you through the four seasons of Michigan and give you a guided [...]
