Wisconsin’s national marine sanctuary is a museum beneath the water. Here’s what to know.
What does Wisconsin have in common with the Hawaiian Islands, Florida Keys and California’s Channel Islands?
They all are home to national marine sanctuaries.
The Wisconsin Shipwreck Coast National Marine Sanctuary is one of 15 places in the country that have received the designation from the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration. Marine sanctuaries help to protect underwater resources, like rocky reefs, kelp forests, deep-sea canyons and archaeological sites.
The Lake Michigan sanctuary off Wisconsin's coast is home to dozens of shipwrecks that represent and preserve both a moment frozen in time and a window into the past, said Russ Green, superintendent of Wisconsin’s national marine sanctuary.
Besides being a cool place to experience shipwrecks, the marine sanctuary is an important site for science, tourism and education opportunities.
Here’s what to know about Wisconsin’s marine sanctuary.
More: More than 3 times as many shipwrecks were discovered in Lake Michigan last year as ever before. Why?
There are 36 known shipwrecks in the sanctuary
The sanctuary covers 962 square miles, spanning Kewaunee, Manitowoc, Sheboygan and Ozaukee counties. It’s co-managed by NOAA and the state.
There are 36 known shipwrecks within the sanctuary boundaries that sank between the 1830s and 1930, 27 of which are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It’s believed that there are another 60 that have yet to be discovered.
Cold freshwater has kept many of these shipwrecks virtually intact, Green said, and "by being good stewards of these historic sites, we’re both protecting this legacy and ensuring that we can share it with the public."
In total, there are an estimated 780 shipwrecks in Wisconsin's Lake Michigan waters, and roughly 250 have been discovered, said Tamara Thomsen, maritime archaeologist with the Wisconsin Historical Society.
More: How many shipwrecks are in Lake Michigan, and what happens to them?
Visitors can paddle out to shipwrecks
According to Green, one of the best places to paddle out to see a shipwreck is at Point Beach State Forest in Two Rivers.
The Lake Michigan Water Trail is an interactive map that people can use to locate shipwrecks off Rawley Point in Point Beach. Green said that the sand is pretty dynamic there, but the wreck of the Major Anderson is often uncovered. Just north of the Park is the steamer Continental, the engine of which is just below the surface. The sanctuary also plans to install buoys this season at several shipwrecks so people can find them easier and explore.
As always, follow safe paddling practices as well as Wisconsin and U.S. Coast Guard laws.
And if you don't feel like heading out into the water, people can "visit" shipwrecks through 3D models sanctuary staff have created.
More: These three men have paddled across all five Great Lakes and raised money to protect them
It took six years to get the designation
Wisconsin’s shipwreck sanctuary became the 15th and most recent site to receive the designation in 2021. And after six years of effort the site received the designation, but not without some political back-and-forth.
The process of designating Wisconsin’s Lake Michigan coast as a sanctuary began in 2015 after former Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker asked the federal government to consider it. Walker rescinded the nomination after former President Donald Trump signed an executive order that prevented the naming of most new national marine sanctuaries in order to expand offshore drilling for oil and gas.
Gov. Tony Evers asked NOAA to renew the proposal shortly after he took office in 2019.
Putting Wisconsin on the map was a community-led effort with the vision of connecting the Great Lakes' rich maritime history with efforts onshore to boost tourism and recreation, Green said.
The sanctuary has become a research hotspot
The marine sanctuary designation also helps support conservation and science efforts, which is very much needed in the Great Lakes, where less than 15% of the lakebeds have been mapped.
Wisconsin’s site is one of the most well-understood places in all of Lake Michigan, according to Green.
NOAA has begun mapping the lake bottom using sonar, which Green said is like painting a picture using sound. Along with diving to the lake bottom, scientists are using technology, like robots, that can explore and characterize shipwrecks and other underwater features.
There is even a map tool where people can explore parts of the lakebed in the sanctuary.
People used the sanctuary waters for thousands of years long before European settlers arrived, and the lake was integral to Indigenous peoples for trade, communication and sustenance, Green said. He hopes continued investigation and discoveries will unveil artifacts that represent this long history.
The Wisconsin site is one of two in the Great Lakes, for now
The Great Lakes region was an important center for commercial fishing, shipping and shipbuilding as well as during military conflicts. So it’s no wonder there is a lot to find on the bottom of the lakes.
To date, there is one other national marine sanctuary in the Great Lakes. Designated in 2000, the Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary was the first marine sanctuary in the Great Lakes, protecting 4,300 square miles of Lake Huron off Michigan’s northeastern coast.
The area is known as “Shipwreck Alley” because it has some of the most treacherous waters and unpredictable weather in the Great Lakes. It is estimated there are roughly 100 shipwrecks in that sanctuary.
NOAA is in the process of designating sites in Lakes Erie and Ontario as well.
The Lake Ontario marine sanctuary would sit off New York’s eastern shore, stretching across more than 1,700 square miles. That site includes 43 known shipwrecks as well as one aircraft. Lake Erie’s site would encompass 740 square miles off Pennsylvania's shore, and has 35 identified shipwrecks.
Along with being commercial centers, the two sites are also culturally significant to Indigenous nations.
More: Water quality issues challenge what it means to 'leave no trace' in beloved Boundary Waters
Caitlin Looby is a Report for America corps member who writes about the environment and the Great Lakes. Reach her at [email protected] or follow her on X @caitlooby.
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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: What to know about Wisconsin's marine sanctuary in Lake Michigan
