Lake Michigan marine sanctuary

MANITOWOC — Representatives from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and Wisconsin Historical Society were met with open arms by area divers Wednesday, who seemed excited and pleased at the possibility of opening a marine sanctuary in the area around Lake Michigan.

Ellen Brody, the regional coordinator for the Great Lakes and Northeast Region for NOAA was grinning ear-to-ear after a successful hour-long meeting at Maritime Divers where locals seemed to embrace the possibility of a sanctuary.

"We've been blown away by the support here," Brody said. "I'm not really feeling like there is going to be opposition to this."

The purpose of a marine sanctuary would be to study and preserve the many shipwrecks in Lake Michigan. The study area for the proposed sanctuary begins just north of Two Rivers and stretches through Manitowoc, Cleveland, Sheboygan and Port Washington.

To read this entire article, go to Herald Times Reporter.
To learn more about marine sanctuaries around the nation, go to NOAA.