Great Lakes Echo

Butterflies race for state insect status | Great Lakes Echo

3 min read

Three butterflies are racing to become Michigan’s official state insect – and one of them is ahead, at least politically. 

The black swallowtail butterfly, a native of Michigan, spends its whole life cycle in the state hibernating as pupa under leaves during winter and hatching in the spring.

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Great Lakes Echo Water

Old Lake Michigan shipwreck visible again after burial under sand | Great Lakes Echo

4 min read

Look fast or you may miss an elusive 170-year-old sunken schooner off the coast of Baileys Harbor, Wisconsin.

The mostly intact shipwreck, which was added to the National Register of Historic Places in early April, isn’t always visible, even though it’s in very shallow waters, said Tamara Thomsen, a Wisconsin Historical Society maritime archaeologist.

The post Old Lake Michigan shipwreck visible again after burial under sand first appeared on Great Lakes Echo.

Great Lakes Echo

Need a summer read? Join this basin-wide book club | Great Lakes Echo

5 min read

Readers across the Great Lakes states and Canada this year will participate in a basin-wide book club hosted by the Library of the Great Lakes. 

From now until September 2025 participants will read Michigan author Sally Cole-Misch’s The Best Part of Us and Ontario author Joanne Robertson’s children’s book, The Water Walker.

The post Need a summer read? Join this basin-wide book club first appeared on Great Lakes Echo.

Great Lakes Echo Water

Dams may slow harmful algal blooms in urban lakes, expert says | Great Lakes Echo

6 min read

Like clockwork, Michigan’s Ford Lake and its downstream neighbor, Belleville Lake, turn bright green every summer due to harmful algal blooms.

The lakes, located near Ypsilanti in the southeast part of the state, have struggled for decades with phosphorus pollution that spurs algae growth.

The post Dams may slow harmful algal blooms in urban lakes, expert says first appeared on Great Lakes Echo.