Great Lakes Now, Saving Shipwrecks and Sturgeon

PBS WESTERN RESERVE (WNEO 45.1 / WEAO 49.1):

Saturday, April 8, at 6 PM

Archeology students and Host Ward Detwiler study shipwrecks at Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary, NOAA designates a new sanctuary along Wisconsin’s Lake Michigan shoreline, and volunteers guard lake sturgeon against poachers looking for valuable caviar.

Segment 1: Shipwreck School

Maritime archaeology students from Texas travel to the Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary to learn more about finding, mapping and studying shipwrecks. Great Lakes Now Host Ward Detwiler joins them to build his own Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV), practice driving one underwater, and design a sonar scan to gather data about a shipwreck for the sanctuary archives. Does he have what it takes?

Segment 2: Sweetwater Sanctuaries

For two decades, Thunder Bay on Lake Huron has had the only freshwater national marine sanctuary designated by NOAA. But that’s about to change. New sanctuaries in Lake Michigan and Lake Ontario are moving closer to becoming a reality, and Canada has its own protected areas in Lake Huron and Lake Superior.

Segment 3: Shielding Sturgeon

Lake sturgeon are some of the most interesting and distinctive fish in the Great Lakes. But their caviar is valuable and that’s led to poaching. This once-abundant species has become endangered in the Great Lakes, so some groups have taken extraordinary measures to save them.