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Lake Michigan Is So Clear Right Now Its Shipwrecks Are Visible from the Air

smithsonianmag.com

41–44 of 44 posts

Re: Lake Michigan Is So Clear Right Now Its Shipwrecks Are Visible from the Air

#41
post #28
post #5

As someone who grew up near Lake Michigan, it is truly bizarre to see the lake this clear. These pictures look like they came out of the Gulf of Mexico!

To be fair, you're looking at a swimming pool depth (the caption says 6-12'). It's clear, but it would be surprising to not be able to see 6'.

If you think that's surprising, you either haven't been paying attention or are just talking out of your ass.

Re: Lake Michigan Is So Clear Right Now Its Shipwrecks Are Visible from the Air

#42
post #38
post #34

-1 for disabling zoom. I'd love to see it closeup on my iPad, but the web authors have decided that this isn't permitted. Why do websites go out of their way to remove useful functionality?

Meanwhile I'm geeking out over the number of things Ghostery blocked on the site. 38 - that'd have to be a record.

That site has the most insufferable mobile css and ads.

Re: Lake Michigan Is So Clear Right Now Its Shipwrecks Are Visible from the Air

#43
post #26
post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Little Traverse Bay is surrounded by some surprisingly expensive vacation homes and a high-end town center, so perhaps it's not so surprising that the bay is kept very clean.

The more expensive the land the more grass/ornamental fertilizer runoff the worse the water quality.

FWIW, I met my wife when she was living in that area. Little Traverse Bay on whe whole is a pretty affluent area. (There is some mix here, and definitely a drop in money if you move inland.) There are few manicured lawns near the bay though. Unlike Grand Traverse Bay, Little Traverse is mostly surrounded by quickly rising hills and bluffs. So while there are houses they tend to not have much in the way of yards.

Re: Lake Michigan Is So Clear Right Now Its Shipwrecks Are Visible from the Air

#44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Still, it requires nitrogen to get an algae bloom, right? Has to come from somewhere.

Phosphorus is the limiting nutrient, not nitrogen. But yes, it's nearly all from ag and wastewater.

In the ocean, iron plays the role of phosphorus.

And it looks like the evidence for run off causing algal blooms in the Great Lakes is pretty convincing.

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