Courtesy Michigan DNR
Piping Plover
The Great Lakes piping plover is making a comeback thanks to collaborative conservation efforts.
Endangered piping plovers continue recovery
The latest piping plover numbers are in, and the Great Lakes population of the endangered shorebirds continues to grow.
Fifteen nests were counted in the Upper Peninsula this year, says the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, besting the previous record of 12 from a few years ago.
On Long Island, part of Wisconsin's Apostle Islands National Lakeshore, four nesting pairs produced 15 eggs, of which 11 chicks fledged. The 12 adults spotted were the most in recent years, while "the number of chicks fledged is similar to recent years," according to park biologist Peggy Burkman.
This week, a young plover from a nest in the Apostle Islands was photographed on the Point, beginning its migration to the Gulf Coast.
Two plovers, a male and a female, were seen on Duluth's Park Point early in the summer. Though they don't appear to have nested there, it's an encouraging sign for an area that hasn't seen a plover nest in more than 30 years.
+ For more on piping plovers, read our story from last year.
Remembering shipwreck survivor Dennis Hale
Dennis Hale, the only survivor of the Great Lakes’ shipwreck Daniel J. Morrell in 1966, died from cancer Wednesday, September 2, 2015, in Ashtabula, Ohio. He was 75.
The Morrell’s sinking on Nov. 29, 1966, in a Lake Huron storm is one of the worst modern disasters on the Great Lakes, with the loss of 28 lives.
Dennis was a 26-year-old watchman on the freighter as it headed north to Taconite Harbor, Minnesota, on its last trip of the season. Off the coast of Port Hope, the Morrell struggled with 35-foot waves and winds of about 60 mph.
The Detroit Free Press has an article about Dennis Hale and an online video of him recounting, in vivid detail, his story.
In that video, Dennis says he awoke to loud bangs and got up to see what had happened. From the bow, Dennis looked toward the stern. “It tore real slow, like a piece of paper, and you could see sparks coming from it as it tore. And then the two sections separated. Somehow the stern section came abreast of the bow section, and from where I was sitting on the bow section, I could look straight into the cargo hold. … It was just so surreal. Am I really seeing this happen to me?”
Dennis and three other crewmen were able to make their way into a life raft as the ship went down. Thirty-eight hours later, after his friends had died in the raft, Dennis (dressed in just a peacoat, undershorts and life jacket) would be rescued by a Coast Guard helicopter.
For many years, Dennis was plagued by survivor’s guilt, keeping him from talking about his experience. But eventually he was able to talk about it in public. He would hold audiences spellbound giving his gripping and inspirational story around the Great Lakes. He also recounted the tragedy in books, including Sole Survivor: Dennis Hale’s Own Story.
In the Lake Superior region, Dennis told his extraordinary story at the Northern Great Lakes Visitor Center in 2012 and also as the keynote speaker at the 2002 Gales of November conference in Duluth.
“Dennis was a great friend and a true gentleman,” says maritime historian and author Frederick Stonehouse. “He was also a powerful ambassador not only for Great Lakes maritime history but in his travels and lectures on his experience, encouraging people in their daily struggles to have faith and determination. When he slipped his mooring and crossed the bar for the last time, we all lost something very special.”
Dennis and his wife, Barbara, participated in the StoryCorps project, in which Dennis describes for her what happened to the Morrell.
Courtesy Stormy Kromer
Stormy Kromer and Harris Tweed
Washburn photographer makes Stormy Kromer's “brand ambassador” list
Photographer Hannah Hudson, whose work has appeared in Lake Superior Magazine, was one of 20 people chosen as a brand ambassador for Stormy Kromer, the Ironwood, Michigan, maker of iconic caps and other apparel. Nearly 600 people applied. The ambassadors will represent the company brand in many ways, including feedback on new products and posting about the company. They get perks like free cap coupon cards and the chance to test new products.
The company also announced this week a new collaboration with Scottish icon Harris Tweed, teaming up to use the world-famous wool fabric in some new fall designs. It’s called the Harris Tweed Collection and it has five hat styles, including the Original Cap, as well as the Uptown Vest, the Companion Purse and the SK Convertible, a fleece-lined earband warmer. The original six-panel cap features Harris Tweed fabric and a cotton flannel lining with a pulldown earband. Harris Tweed, a unique cloth created 150 years ago, is the only fabric in the world protected by an Act of Parliament. By law, it’s “made with 100 percent pure virgin wool, dyed, spun and finished in the Outer Hebrides and woven by hand by the Islanders in their home,” according to Stormy Kromer.
If you've never been, the tour of the company's factory in Ironwood is worth checking out.
+ CBC News: "Port officials in Thunder Bay are almost finished cleaning up nearly 200 litres of oil that spilled into the Great Lakes over the weekend."
+ Detroit Free Press: "Ghostbusters chase the unexplained in the U.P." (Friend-of-the-magazine Don Hermanson appears in the article. Think his work as a ghost hunter is far out? Wait until you hear what he used to do.)
+ The downtown portion of Superior Street in Duluth will be rebuilt in 2017. The News Tribune reports on the competing visions for downtown: "One will include a protected lane for bicyclists to travel in both directions. ... The other, with more parking and more room for pedestrian amenities, will have no such lane."
+ WCCO's "Finding Minnesota" program featured Duluth Grill, which has made a national name for itself with a focus on locally grown ingredients.
+ The Apostle Islands sea caves had an unexpected visitor: a deer apparently tumbled from the cliffs above and was trapped in the caves. Fortunately, the story ended happily, when kayakers led the buck to safety. Fox 21 has video of the rescue.
+ How will the projected El Niño winter affect Great Lakes ice cover? MLive meteorologist Mark Torregrossa answers.
+ Grand Marais radio station WTIP interviewed visitors from Russia's Lake Baikal region. A group from Bayfield, Wisconsin, visited Lake Baikal last summer. Baikal is the world's biggest lake by volume; Superior is tops by surface area.
+ Michigan Radio, with guest Fred Stonehouse: "Marquette ore docks a reminder of the city's maritime and mining heritage."