Maritime Activity for Last Season
Cargo totals for the ports of Duluth-Superior and Thunder Bay
were up a bit in the 2007 shipping season despite the low water levels.
But at the Soo Locks, total cargo fell.
The Twin Ports reported about 47.9 million tons for the
season that ended January 17, 2008 – an increase of more than 800,000
tons over the previous year. The Port of Thunder Bay reported nearly
8.5 million metric tonnes of cargo for the season ending January 7, up
26,000 metric tonnes. Duluth Seaway Port Authority says 1,231 total
vessels called last season, an increase of 44. Yet lower water levels
required 22 additional U.S. or Canadian ships to move almost the same
tonnage as the previous shipping season. The average laker carried 300
tons less per trip. Thunder Bay Port Authority posted 431 vessels, up
from 426 in 2006.
Soo Locks reported 81.7 million tons of freight for the
season, or 636,349 tons below 2006. Yet it recorded 4,730 cargo
carriers, an increase of 318 vessels over 2006. ꆱ
Lake Notes
 According
to the Wisconsin Phenological Society, the May lilac bloom on the
Wisconsin shore of Lake Superior comes about three weeks after the
first lilacs in the southwestern part of the state.
The
Great Lakes hold about 20 percent of the world’s surface fresh water
and about 95 percent of North America’s surface fresh water. Lake
Superior holds more than half of all Great Lakes water.
Bay Mills News notes the Ojibway name for April as Bebookwaadaagame Giizis or “broken snowshoe moon.”
Special Water Level Report
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