Lake Huron

By surface area, Lake Huron is the second-largest of the Great Lakes, with a surface area of . It is the third-largest fresh water lake on Earth (or the fourth-largest lake, if the Caspian Sea is counted as a lake). By volume however, Lake Huron is only the third largest of the Great Lakes, being surpassed by Lake Michigan and Lake Superior. When measured at the low water datum, the lake contains a volume of and a shoreline length (including islands) of . A smaller bay that protrudes southwest from Lake Huron into Michigan is called Saginaw Bay. Cities with over 10,000 people on Lake Huron include Sarnia, the largest city on Lake Huron, and Saugeen Shores in Canada and Bay City, Port Huron, and Alpena in the United States. Major centres on Georgian Bay include Owen Sound, Wasaga Beach, Collingwood, Midland, Penetanguishene, Port Severn and Parry Sound. Water levels Historic high water The lake fluctuates from month to month with the highest lake levels in October and November. The normal high-water mark is above datum (577.5 ft or 176.0 m). In the summer of 1986, Lakes Michigan and Huron reached their then highest level at above datum. The high-water records were broken for several months in a row in 2020. Historic low water Lake levels tend to be the lowest in winter. The normal low-water mark is below datum (577.5 ft or 176.0 m). In the winter of 1964, Lakes Michigan and Huron reached their then lowest level at below datum. As with the high-water records, monthly low-water records were set each month from February 1964 through January 1965. During this twelve-month period, water levels ranged from below Chart Datum. The all-time low-water mark was eclipsed in January 2013. ==Geology==

Counting its 30,000 islands, Lake Huron has the largest shore line length of any of the Great Lakes. It is separated from Lake Michigan, which lies at the same level, by the , Straits of Mackinac, making them hydrologically the same body of water (sometimes called Lake Michigan-Huron and sometimes described as two 'lobes of the same lake'). ==History==

About 9,000 years ago, when water levels in Lake Huron were approximately below today's levels, the Alpena-Amberley Ridge was exposed. That land bridge was used as a migration route for large herds of caribou. Since 2008, archaeologists have discovered at least 60 stone constructions along the submerged ridge that are thought to have been used as hunting blinds by Paleo-Indians. On the eve of European contact, the extent of development among Eastern Woodlands Native American societies is indicated by the archaeological evidence of a town on or near Lake Huron that contained more than one hundred large structures housing a total population of between 4,000 and 6,000. The French, the first European visitors to the region, often referred to Lake Huron as La Mer Douce, "the fresh-water sea". In 1656, a map by French cartographer Nicolas Sanson refers to the lake by the name , a Wyandot word that has been translated variously, as "Freshwater Sea", "Lake of the Hurons", or simply "lake". Generally, the lake was labeled "Lac des Hurons" (Lake of the Huron) on most early European maps. On October 26, 2010, the Karegnondi Water Authority was formed to build and manage a pipeline from the lake to Flint, Michigan. ==Shipwrecks==

More than a thousand wrecks have been recorded in Lake Huron. Of these, 185 are located in Saginaw Bay, and 116 are found in the Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary and Underwater Preserve, which was established in 2000. Georgian Bay contains 212 sunken vessels. Purportedly the first European vessel to sail the Great Lakes, Le Griffon also became the first ship lost on the Great Lakes. It was built in 1679 on the eastern shore of Lake Erie near Buffalo, New York. Robert Cavalier, Sieur de la Salle navigated across Lake Erie, up the Detroit River, Lake St. Clair and the St. Clair River out into Lake Huron. Passing the Straits of Mackinac, La Salle made landfall on Washington Island, off the tip of the Door Peninsula on the Wisconsin side of Lake Michigan. La Salle filled Le Griffon with pelts and in late November 1679 sent Le Griffon back to the site of modern-day Buffalo, never to be seen again. Two wrecks have been identified as Le Griffon, although neither has gained final verification as the actual wreck. Blown by a fierce storm after leaving, Le Griffon ran aground before the storm. The people of Manitoulin Island say that the wreck in Mississagi Strait at the western tip of the island is that of Le Griffon. Meanwhile, others near Tobermory, say that the wreck on Russell Island, farther east in Georgian Bay, is that of Le Griffon. File:P7050019 Tawas Point SP (E Tawas Mich).jpg|View of Lake Huron from East Tawas State Park at the head of Saginaw Bay File:Harrisville Beach near State Park - Lake Huron.jpg|Harrisville Beach on Lake Huron File:Lake Huron from Upper Peninsula.JPG|View of rocky shore of Lake Huron from east of Port Dolomite, Michigan, in the upper peninsula Storm of 1913 On November 9, 1913, the Great Lakes Storm of 1913 in Lake Huron sank 10 ships, and more than 20 were driven ashore. The storm, which raged for 16 hours, killed 235 seamen. Matoa—a propeller freighter measuring 2,311 gross register tons—had passed between Port Huron, Michigan, and Sarnia, Ontario, just after midnight. On November 9, just after six in the morning, Senator pushed upstream. Less than an hour later, Manola—a propeller freighter of 2,325 gross register tons also built in Cleveland in 1890—passed through. Captain Frederick W. Light of Manola reported that both the Canadian and the American weather stations had storm flag signals flying from their weather towers. Following behind at 7:00 a.m. that Sunday, Regina steamed out of Sarnia into the northwest gale. The warnings had been up for four hours. Manola passed Regina off Port Sanilac, up the lake. Captain Light determined that if it continued to deteriorate, he would seek shelter at Harbor Beach, Michigan, another up the lake. There, he could seek shelter behind the breakwater. Before he reached Harbor Beach, the winds turned to the northeast and the lake began to rise. It was noon when he reached Harbor Beach and ran for shelter. The waves were so violent that Manola touched bottom entering the harbor. With help from a tugboat, Manola tied up to the break wall with eight lines. It was about 3:00 p.m. when Manola was secured and the crew prepared to drop anchor. As they worked, the cables began to snap from wind pressure against the hull. To keep from being pushed aground, they kept their bow into the wind with the engines running half to full in turns, yet the ship still drifted before its movement was arrested. Waves breaking over the ship damaged several windows, and the crew reported seeing portions of the concrete break wall peeling off as the waves struck it. Meanwhile, fifty miles farther up the lake, Matoa and Captain Hugh McLeod had to ride out the storm without a safe harbor. Matoa was found stranded on the Port Austin reef when the winds subsided. It was noon on Monday before the winds let up and not until 11:00 p.m. that night before Captain Light determined it to be safe to continue his journey. Although Manola survived the storm, she was renamed Mapledawn in 1920, and on November 24, 1924, she became stranded on Christian Island in Georgian Bay. It was declared a total loss. Salvagers were able to recover approximately 75,000 bushels of barley. ==Ecology==

Lake Huron has a lake retention time of 22 years. Like all of the Great Lakes, the ecology of Lake Huron has undergone drastic changes in the last century. The lake originally supported a native deepwater fish community dominated by lake trout, which fed on several species of ciscos as well as sculpins and other native fishes. Several invasive species, including sea lamprey, alewife and rainbow smelt, became abundant in the lake by the 1930s. The major native top predator, lake trout, was virtually extirpated from the lake by 1950 through a combination of overfishing and the effects of sea lamprey. Several species of ciscos were also extirpated from the lake by the 1960s; the only remaining native ciscoes are bloater and cisco (lake herring). Non-native Pacific salmon have been stocked in the lake since the 1960s, but are less abundant since a profound food web change that took place in 2003. Lake trout have also been stocked for decades in an attempt to rehabilitate the species and today are largely self-sustaining, especially in the northern half of the lake. Lake Huron contains many species of algae and seaweed, including the curly-leafed pondweed, a tall, kelp-like seaweed with small curly leaves able to grow up to ; spiked water-milfoil, a tall kelp-like seaweed with pine-like leaves, often growing in bushes, reaching heights of ; water silk, a smooth, silk-like algae that often grows on rocks; and muskgrass, a seaweed with a skinny stem and flower-like leaves. Spiked water-milfoil and curly-leafed pondweed are both invasive species that can remove resources from native algae species. Lake Huron has suffered recently by the introduction of a variety of new invasive species, including zebra and quagga mussels, the spiny water flea, and round gobies. The demersal fish community of the lake was in a state of collapse by 2006, and a number of drastic changes have been observed in the zooplankton community of the lake. Chinook salmon catches have also been greatly reduced in recent years, and lake whitefish have become less abundant and are in poor condition. These recent changes may be attributable to the new exotic species. Some native species, however were beneficiaries of these chances (principally a result of the almost complete disappearance of the invasive Alewife in the lake). These native species include lake trout and walleye. The walleye population in Saginaw Bay area of Lake Huron reached recovery targets in 2009. == Cities ==

Michigan • Alpena • Au Gres • Bay City • Caseville • Cheboygan • East Tawas • Essexville • Harbor Beach • Harrisville • Lexington • Mackinac Island • Port Huron • Rogers City • St. Ignace • Tawas CityOntario • Collingwood • Goderich • Midland • Owen Sound • Parry Sound • Penetanguishene • Point Edward • Sarnia • Severn ==See also==