Whitefish Point Underwater Preserve

History

Shipwrecks along the southern Lake Superior coast known as the “Graveyard of the Great Lakes” dramatically increased after the first lock on the St. Marys River opened this coastline to shipping in 1855. Every vessel entering or leaving Lake Superior must pass Whitefish Point. The Whitefish Point Light first established in 1849 is arguably the most important light on Lake Superior. More vessels have been lost in the Whitefish Point area than any other part of Lake Superior. Between the loss of the Invincible in 1816 and the sinking of the SS Edmund Fitzgerald in 1975, the Whitefish Point area has claimed at least 240 ships. Vessels are funneled through Whitefish Bay downbound and upbound from the Soo Locks. Poor visibility from forest fire smoke, snow squalls, and Lake Superior’s notorious fogs had deadly consequences with the traffic congestion. Lake Superior’s 160 miles (260 km) of open water and storms from the northwest can build immense seas with offshore waves of 30 feet (9.1 m) or more. Such a storm sank the SS Edmund Fitzgerald 17 miles (27 km) from Whitefish Point in 1975.

Sport diver Harrington reported that many of the shipwrecks of the Whitefish Point Underwater Preserve were "stripped of important artifacts in the 1970s and early 1980s. The State of Michigan filed a lawsuit against the Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society (GLSHS) for illegal removal of artifacts from Great Lakes bottomlands. The Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR) obtained a search warrant in 1992 and raided on the GLSHS’s offices and Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum. The DNR found evidence the Shipwreck Society had:

...removed about 150 artifacts from wrecks located on state-claimed bottomlands. … Shipwreck Society official [Tom Farnquist] described the Society’s actions as a kind of “damned if you do, damned if you don’t” puzzle. By preserving the artifacts for display at the Whitefish Point Museum, Farnquist reasoned the Society was really doing the state’s job for the DNR. DNR officer Carl TerHaar challenged Farnquist’s line of reasoning however. “The story we get is, ‘We’re taking stuff before somebody else does.’ That’s a never-ending excuse … saying we’ll take it before the next guy does. That’s like looting in the L.A. riots,” TerHaar commented.

Many of the artifacts removed from shipwrecks by the GLSHS without permits are displayed at the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum at Whitefish Point by a settlement agreement with the state of Michigan. The sport diving community raised a furious outcry over the disparity of special treatment for the museum divers who received no criminal prosecution while individual sport divers were prosecuted freely during the late 1980s and 1990s for removal of artifacts from shipwrecks. To this day many sport divers boycott the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum.

Preserve formation

The Whitefish Point Underwater Preserve was established in 1987 to protect some of the region’s most sensitive underwater natural and cultural resources with the central objective to provide enhanced management of shipwrecks. The Whitefish Point Underwater Preserve is administered through the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality Submerged Lands Program and the Michigan Department of History, Arts and Libraries of the Michigan Historical Center.

Scuba divers and history enthusiasts now help ensure the integrity of the preserve which is considered an underwater museum.

Features

Many of the twenty-three known shipwrecks lying in depths from 30 feet (9.1 m) to 270 feet (82 m) are moored to protect the wrecks and enhance the safety of divers. The preserve has good visibility and offers deep water diving on a variety of shipwrecks. The preserve is one of the last places in the Great Lakes to observe shipwrecks without zebra mussel encrustation. Dry suits are recommended due to cold temperatures and unprotected coves or bays. Most of the dive sites are deep and divers must be certain of their ability and their equipment before they attempt to dive in this preserve.