Thunder Bay and the shipwreck sanctuary

Alpena sits at the head of Thunder Bay, where storms, fog, rocky shoals, and heavy shipping traffic earned the Lake Huron coast the name Shipwreck Alley. Today the Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary protects 4,300 square miles of water and maritime history along northeast Michigan.

NOAA’s current shorthand is useful: 100 shipwrecks have been discovered, and about 100 more are thought to await discovery. More than 200 vessels were lost in and around Thunder Bay, so the discovered count and the estimated total are not the same thing. Cold, fresh water helps preserve vessels ranging from wooden schooners to steel freighters. One example is a schooner barge that remains upright with all three masts standing.

Thunder Bay was the first national marine sanctuary in the Great Lakes when NOAA designated it in 2000, and the first in fresh water. It remains the only national marine sanctuary in Michigan. It is not the only one in the Great Lakes today; Wisconsin Shipwreck Coast and Lake Ontario have since joined the system.

You do not have to be a scuba diver to get something from it. Shallow wrecks can be approached by paddlers and snorkelers, glass-bottom boats take non-divers onto the water, and the Great Lakes Maritime Heritage Center tells the whole story from downtown Alpena. The center is open year-round and admission is free, though NOAA recommends checking ahead because special events can occasionally close it.