Campaign Launched to Map Great Lakes Bottoms

Jennifer Boehme, executive director of the Great Lakes Observing System, is spearheading an ambitious initiative to create high-resolution maps of the Great Lakes' bottoms, an area largely unexplored despite covering 94,250 square miles. This effort aims to unveil hundreds of underwater shipwrecks, enhance navigation safety, identify fisheries, and inform climate change models regarding erosion and flooding. Only low-resolution charts have been available since the 1970s, and advancements in technology now make high-resolution mapping feasible. Two Michigan congressional representatives have introduced a bill seeking $200 million to support this mapping initiative by 2030. Boehme emphasizes the project's discovery potential, noting that we know more about the surface of the moon than the Great Lakes' depths. The campaign has gained momentum as recent mapping successes in Florida and the Gulf of Mexico showcase the potential benefits of improved underwater exploration.