
Home, Home on the Register: The Antelope, a 186.8-foot schooner-barge, sank in 1867 off Michigan Island in the Apostles while carrying 1,000 tons of coal to the coal dock in Ashland, Wisconsin. It was recently accepted to the Wisconsin Register of Historic Places, a step on its way to the National Register of Historic Places, says wreckhunter Ken Merryman. “From there it goes to the National Review Board, which I think is pretty much a formality at least for all of the Wisconsin and Minnesota nominations I have been involved in, since our archaeologists do the job right.”
Ken will give a presentation, “Lost Off Michigan Island: Deepwater Shipwrecks,” 2 p.m. Sunday at the Bayfield Heritage Center detailing the wrecks of the Marquette, the Moonlight and the Antelope, found Labor Day 2016 by a shipwreck hunting crew (seen in photo – in front, from left, are Tamara Thomsen, Tom Crossmon, Ken Merryman, Jerry Eliason and Dave Phillips, in boat.) “The Antelope sits in 320 feet of water upright, with two masts still standing,” explains a description in a video about the discovery posted this week. Antelope’s wheel is seen from an ROV photo at right.
Two other wrecks may also be on the track for register recognition, Ken tells us. The nomination to the National Register of Historic Places of the 283-foot wooden barge Harriet B., sunk near Two Harbors, Minnesota, in 1922, will go before the Minnesota State Review Board on March 20. The wreckhunters found the Harriet B. in 650 feet of water in 2008 and pursued the nomination thanks to a Minnesota Legacy grant. Tamara will be doing fieldwork this summer on a third wreck the crew hopes to place in register nomination, Ken reports. The giant fish tug Thomas Friant, sunk in 1923, was found in 2004 in 300 feet of water about 12 miles from Two Harbors on the Wisconsin side of the state line. Einar Miller and Halvor Reiten of Bayfield owned the tug and a number of residents in Bayfield and Cornucopia have a connection to the Friant, Ken says, so he will give an update on its status during Sunday’s presentation.

Winners All Around: The U.S. and Canadian Olympic women’s hockey teams did the Lake Superior neighborhood proud this week in a nail-biter of a match for Gold. Duluth native and Team USA goalie Maddie Rooney blocked a Canadian players shot, just after the U.S. team forward Jocelyne Nicole Lamoureux-Davidson (who plays on the pro team Minnesota Whitecaps) scored on her shot in the sixth round of the overtime shootout. Besides Maddie on the U.S. team was Sidney Morin, who like Maddie attended the University of Minnesota Duluth. Another UMD hockey alumna, Thunder Bay native Haley Irwin, played for Team Canada. She also played on that team in the 2010 and 2014 Olympics when it won Gold. A fun side note: Goalie Maddie carried a bit of Duluth with her on the back of her helmet (seen above and at right), created by Miska Design of Stacy, Minnesota. Todd Miska, who designed the helmet, says he prefers a cleaner presentation so you can see the images used (like the Aerial Lift Bridge behind the state of Minnesota outline). He’s been to Duluth often, he says, so it wasn’t hard to design the medal-worthy helmet. In yet another case of Big Lake, Small World, Todd’s son, Hunter Miska, just left the UMD hockey team after one season when it became NCAA champion. He signed professionally with the NHL’s Arizona Coyotes.
A Shrimp Invasion: A single bloody red shrimp (Hemimysis anomala), a pencil-eraser-sized critter likely brought into the Great Lakes in ballast from cargo ships in the Black Sea, was detected in the St. Louis River near Allouez Bay, the Wisconsin DNR and U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service reports. This is the first detection of the species in Lake Superior, collected as part of annual sampling done by the USF&WS. Lake Superior was the last of the Great Lakes without indication of the species, first detected in 2006 in Lake Ontario and Lake Michigan, where they were found in swarms of about 135 individuals per square foot. “While the collection of a single individual shrimp suggests this species is not abundant or widespread, it’s a disappointing detection,” says Jeremy Bates, early detection and rapid response coordinator with the Wisconsin DNR. “While the impacts on other Great Lakes are currently unknown, we still want to be cautious about how we approach the management of this species.”
The Wisconsin DNR labels the bloody red shrimp as an “invasive” species, but some researchers interviewed by Michigan Radio in August 2017, question that designation. “‘Invasive’ is kind of a tricky word,” Central Michigan University biology professor Scott McNaught told reporter Ben Thorp. “We like to say an organism is invasive if it’s causing some negative impact on the environment. Or economic impact, or even an aesthetic impact.” Scott considers the bloody red shrimp as “non-native” with a potential for becoming an integrated part of the food web. Any positive potential aside, most researchers agree that it’s best if species are not accidentally introduced from abroad. Boaters and anglers can help keep aquatic invasive species in the Great Lakes from moving to inland waters by inspecting and thoroughly cleaning equipment and clothing; removing aquatic plants and debris from boats and equipment; draining water from live wells and bilge compartments before leaving a waterway; and transporting all catches on ice. NOAA’s Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory details more information about bloody red shrimp, how to spot them and how to report them.

A Pretty Good Bridge: Thanks to gusset-plate reinforcements completed in 2016, the John A. Blatnik “High” Bridge between Duluth and Superior has been upgraded to a rating of “adequate” from “deficient” by the MnDOT, reports Brady Slater for the Duluth News Tribune. The local MnDOT office, however, says the 56-year-old bridge is still slated for replacement by 2028. Back in 2014, the bridge had a lighting makeover by SEH (Short Elliott Hendrickson Inc., headquartered in St. Paul with offices in Duluth). The company replaced the old lights along the 1,400-foot span with 92 LED luminaries, saving 60 percent in energy costs, the company reports. On the SEH website, there’s a nice behind-the-scenes page about the lighting project and an animated video across the bridge.

Inspiring You to Get Out: A recently posted story and video by Red Bull and a travel story by the Minneapolis Star Tribune give some great examples of thrilling to outdoor recreation in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula – one extreme and one more for the rest of us. Whitney Boland writing for Red Bull featured the adventures of rock climber Sasha DiGiulian (on left in photo) joining world-class ice climber Angela VanWiemeersch (on right) to tackle the ice curtains at Grand Island. There is also a video of Sasha learning the new skill. The Star Tribune story, meanwhile, calls the Porcupine Mountains the “paradise of snowshoeing,” following the adventures of writer Melanie Radzicki McManus and her husband, Ed, in the wilderness state park. Melanie describes the varying conditions encountered along their route: “I snap some photos of Lake Superior in all her fury, then clomp back into the woods and scurry down the path. A minute later it leads us away from the lake, and the flying ice pellets revert to lazy, fluffy flakes. ‘You don’t get to experience that on any old snowshoe trail!’” Ed says, with more than a touch of Midwestern pride.” Both stories give you a bit of Lake Superior neighborhood pride (though the ice climbing, well …).

Angling for Scholarships: Lake Superior State University Fisheries and Wildlife Management students Sarah McNichol of Richmond, Michigan, and Carrie Coy, of Petoskey, landed two of only six $750 scholarships from the Saginaw Bay Walleye Club, reports John Shibley for LSSU. The club is one of dozens that come to the St. Marys River in Sault Ste. Marie every August for the Michigan Walleye Tour (Aug. 10-11 this year). The LSSU Fisheries & Wildlife Club, of which Carrie and Sarah are members, contributes expertise to the tournament. Joining Sarah (left center) and Carrie (right center) in this picture are, from left, LSSU Fisheries & Wildlife Club officers Cole VanOosten, Will Marosi and Riley Waterman. (“Kodiak Bear adorns the Crawford Hall of Science main lobby,” John says and suggests he is roaring his approval.)
Detour Continues on US-2 Branch: US-2 Business Route in Ironwood, Michigan, continued to be closed today following a horrible fire downtown Wednesday that resulted in two deaths and destroyed two buildings. “A posted detour on city streets is in effect while the cause of the fatal fire and the integrity of the building is being investigated,” the Michigan DOT announced. “The detour is expected to remain in effect until cleanup and partial demolition of the structure can be completed.” Richard Jenkins of the Ironwood Daily Globe reported yesterday that a second body had been found in the fire, termed “suspicious” by authorities. Federal authorities are assisting in the investigation. The fire started in the building housing Chelsi’s Corner, which also had apartments on the upper floors. Three people were rescued from the building and taken to Aspirus Ironwood Hospital.

NorShor for Everyone: Those in Duluth who haven’t yet had a chance to see the revitalized NorShor Theatre downtown can grab the two-hour opportunity for an open house visit 10 a.m.-noon Saturday (Feb. 24). At the free open house, hosted by the Duluth Playhouse, the NorShor manager and main tenant, you can take in the new auditorium, restored murals and artwork from the original NorShor plus see the modern updates made to this historic theatre. The theatre renovations and plans are featured in the February/March Lake Superior Magazine currently on the newsstands.
Photo & graphic credits: Courtesy Ken Merryman; Miska Design; NOAA Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory; SEH; Andy Mann/Red Bull; John Shibley/LSSU; Duluth Playhouse.