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Take a look inside a Great Lakes sanctuary that protects 200 shipwrecks

Source: Courtesy of Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary

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1 min read

Take a look inside a Great Lakes sanctuary that protects 200 shipwrecks

By
Rebecca Williams / Michigan Public, Jodi Westrick / Michigan Public

May 5, 2026, 10:24 AM CT

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This story was originally published by Bridge Michigan (bridgemi.com), a nonprofit and nonpartisan news organization. To get regular coverage from Bridge Michigan, sign up for a free Bridge Michigan newsletter here.
  • Michigan Public is launching a series of stories about the Great Lakes.
  • The first story in the series looks at shipwrecks in Lake Huron’s Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary.
  • Roughly 200 shipwrecks are thought to lie at the bottom of the 4,300-square-mile sanctuary.

The Great Lakes hold thousands of shipwrecks, and hundreds of them lie in Shipwreck Alley off the northeast Michigan coast.

Researchers have found evidence of some 200 shipwrecks in the Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary, which covers 4,300 square miles of Lake Huron near towns like Alpena and Rogers City.

“We’ve located about 100 and there’s still about another hundred to find,” Jeff Gray, the sanctuary’s superintendent, told us.

Thunder Bay was the nation’s first freshwater national marine sanctuary. 

Michigan Public toured parts of the sanctuary and saw numerous shipwrecks as part of a series of stories on Michigan’s Great Lakes.

You can check out the audio and visual story below.


Jodi Westrick and Rebecca Williams reported and produced this episode, with editing from Vincent Duffy, Dustin Dwyer, and Jodi Westrick. Special thanks to Meredith Luneack and Randi Kest.

Support for the production of this podcast was made possible by the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, as part of its Great Lakes News Collaborative.

Music by Blue Dot Sessions.

Beyond the Shore is a production of Michigan Public. 

Rebecca Williams / Michigan Public
Rebecca Williams / Michigan Public

Jodi Westrick / Michigan Public
Jodi Westrick / Michigan Public

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