GRAND RKeynote USAIDS, Mich. (WOOD) – Shipwrecks are better preserved in the Great Lakes than anywhere else in the world. The cold, fresh water acts to stop the shipwreck clock, making it a great dive for those hoping to see a living preservation of history.
Until a few years ago, shipwrecks in Lake Michigan looked almost the same as they did the day they sank. But lately, a new invasive species, the quagga mussel, has taken control, changing the appearance of the ships and accelerating the rate of decay.
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Shallow wrecks are most at risk
Scientists say quagga mussels will look different depending on how deep they are. Quaggas found at shallower depths are darker and heavier. Unlike invasive zebra mussels, which need sunlight to live, quaggas can colonize the deepest parts of Lake Michigan, clinging to anything on the bottom of the lake at depths of hundreds of feet.
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The mussels, combined with constant wave action, have put shallower shipwrecks at greater risk of collapsing. Professional Association of Diving Instructors Staff instructor Mike Palmer said he remembers mussels taking over Lake Michigan. The new added weight has already claimed some of the wreck.
“Some of the leftover wood would get so heavy that the deck would become heavy and the sides would collapse and the whole thing would fall apart,” Palmer said.
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That could pose a threat to diving tourism in Lake Michigan because shallow wrecks are the most visited by divers, who typically can only descend between 60 and 100 feet.
DEEP WATER WRECKS LIKELY TO SURVIVE
Shipwrecks sitting in the deeper waters of Lake Michigan have a better chance of surviving.
Dusty Klifman of Blueyes Below is one of the few divers around Lake Michigan with enough training to dive into several hundred feet of water. On the deeper dives, he says the boats are incredibly preserved.
“These are not degraded. There’s glass in the windows, the steering wheels are there. The masts are standing. Basically, a lot of them look like they’re sitting on the dock,” Klifman said.
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The quagga mussel mat is thick, but the wave energy so far is substantially lower. Often, shipwrecks found in several hundred feet of water look eerily similar to the day they sank.
Below: Blueyes down submerges the remains of the Kimball WC in about 300 feet of water near the Leelanau Peninsula.
Of the 600 shipwrecks believed to have been lost in Lake Michigan, only about 210 have been identified.
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About 80 World War II aircraft are still parked at the bottom of Lake Michigan. They ended up there because the US Navy used the big lake as a training ground.
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To date, about 40 planes have been rescued from the water. The Air Zoo in Portage is restoring one of them. Although it broke apart when it crashed in 1944, its core was well preserved and still in excellent shape even after more than 60 years in the water. But when the plane stopped, it was completely covered in quagga mussels.
“Fresh water doesn’t corrode metal very quickly, but these quagga mussels, sitting around, sticking to the metal, creating this acidic environment, have really damaged this plane,” said Air Zoo CEO Troy Thrash.
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Experts estimate that because of the quaggas, researchers may only have three more years to rescue World War II planes before they break up.
WATER CLARITY THE BEST THERE IS
Invasive mussels.
Even as quagga and zebra mussels pose a threat to local shipwrecks, the water clarity produced by the invertebrates makes diving visibility the best it has ever been in Lake Michigan. Divers say they can see up to 100 feet into some of the deepest wrecks. The clarity has sparked a boom in local dive shops as new divers look to explore.
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Water clarity is expected to be maintained even if the invasive mussel population is eventually controlled.
Still, Ashley Elgin, Ph.D., research scientist at National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administrationwarns that just because water is clear does not make it clean.
“Clear water does not always mean clean water. You can see through it, but that doesn’t mean it’s contaminant-free,” Elgin said.
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