Shipping

The Great Lakes are often referred to as the "fourth seacoast." U.S. and Canadian lake fleets annually haul upwards of 125 million tons of cargo, including iron ore, limestone and coal.

Ways to Connect

Poet gives new life to Great Lakes shipwrecks

By Dave Rosenthal • Mar 2, 2017

A new book by Michigan poet Cindy Hunter Morgan breathes life into shipwrecks that dot the floor of the Great Lakes.

"Harborless" is her re-imagining of tragic moments when the Philadelphia, Chicora and other ships were lost.

Ice cover dwindling across Great Lakes

By Dave Rosenthal • Feb 28, 2017

As February -- and winter -- come to a close, the Great Lakes are virtually ice-free.

Less than 5 percent of the lakes' surface is covered by ice, according to the latest data from the NOAA -- Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory. By comparison, 8 percent was covered at this time last year. And in 2015, 87 percent was covered.

Warm winter's downside: erosion, poor spawning and more

By Elizabeth Miller • Feb 21, 2017

On WCPN's public affairs program The Sound of Ideas last week, panelists from the U.S. Coast Guard Great Lakes, the Cleveland Metroparks, and the University of Minnesota Duluth's Large Lakes Observatory discussed this year's low ice cover on the Great Lakes.

Listen to the segment here.

Ballast regs split environmentalists, shippers

By Veronica Volk • Feb 21, 2017

Zebra Mussels, — US Department of Agriculture

Every year, hundreds of commercial ships make their way through the St. Lawrence seaway, taking on and letting out water to maintain stability as they load and unload cargo. This ballast water is regulated to prevent the spread of invasive species, but there is some disagreement about who should be in charge of those regulations.