NOAA Sea to Sky: Education resource database

Discover America’s underwater ocean parks as we “Get Into Your Sanctuary!" The archive of this live interaction will connect you with information on what national marine sanctuaries are and bring you below the surface to virtually interact with the sea life that call sanctuaries home. Join us at any time as we explore the NOAA's National Marine Sanctuary System from wherever you live.

On the afternoon of April 13, 2018, a large wave of water surged across Lake Michigan and flooded the shores of the picturesque beach town of Ludington, Michigan, damaging homes and boat docks, and flooding intake pipes. Thanks to a local citizen’s photos and other data, NOAA scientists reconstructed the event in models and determined this was the first ever documented meteotsunami in the Great Lakes caused by an atmospheric inertia-gravity wave.

NOAA plans to expand its research in the Great Lakes region as the agency teams up with the travel company Viking to carry scientists aboard new expedition voyages.

To celebrate Women’s History Month, check out this interview with the NOAA Central Library Research Team, including Librarians Lisa Clarke, Hope Shinn, and Shannon Delaney, and Outreach Librarian Katie Poser.

Indiana campaign focusing on the critical importance of protecting coastal resources has captivated thousands of state residents with vibrant, information-dense illustrations that are unveiled roughly every two years. The Indiana Lake Michigan Coastal Program helms the poster campaign, with funding assistance from NOAA’s Office for Coastal Management, and from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency via the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative. You can request free copies of these posters from the Indiana Department of Natural Resources.

This resource collection from NOAA Education explores the Great Lakes system offsite link, which includes five large lakes, one small lake, four connecting channels, and the St. Lawrence Seaway. The large lakes are Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario. They hold about 90% of the freshwater in the United States and approximately 20% of the world's freshwater supply. Forty million residents of the United States and Canada depend on this system for clean drinking water.

Keeping our marine transportation system functioning in a way that is safe and efficient requires information about water depth; mapping the shape of the seafloor, lakebed, or coastline; pinpointing the location of possible obstructions; and understanding many other physical features of water bodies. Hydrography is the science behind this information, and surveying is a primary method of obtaining hydrographic data. In this episode, we learn about surveying and NOAA Ship Thomas Jefferson's survey missions in the Great Lakes.

Millions of people rely on the Great Lakes for recreation, industry, and drinking water. Changing water levels can have positive or negative impacts on industries like tourism and transportation in the region. At present, anthropogenic climate change is affecting precipitation events and temperatures throughout the Basin and future predictions suggest this will continue. While it is presently unknown how water levels will change in the Great Lakes Basin, it is important to continue to monitor them as they are an integral part of life in the Great Lakes Basin.

Ever since Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary was designated in 2000 as the first national marine sanctuary in the Great Lakes, staff and partners have undertaken several expeditions to search for shipwrecks, and have even discovered some that were lost for decades. Probably one of the most notable discoveries within the sanctuary since designation is that of the steamer Choctaw (1892-1915) and wooden bulk freighter Ohio (1873-1894) in historic shipping lanes off Presque Isle, Michigan in Lake Huron.

Did you know that there are about 120 World War II era aircraft lying at the bottom of Lake Michigan?