It’s the unofficial start to summer at the McKinley Marina, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and the staff lifted dozens of boats into Lake Michigan for Big Boat Day. Read the full story by WISN-TV – Milwaukee, WI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260511-big-boat-day
The Great Lakes Surf Rescue Project often visits communities and schools to educate them on drowning prevention. The organization will be working with first responders in northern Michigan. Read the full story by WPBN-TV – Traverse City, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260511-surf-rescue
Ontario is investing $1.5 million into a new Local Blue Economy Growth Fund aimed at protecting the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River Basin through projects that improve water quality, reduce pollution, and strengthen climate resilience. The funding will support municipalities and First Nations communities with initiatives such as stormwater filtration systems, rain gardens, and other green infrastructure projects. Read the full story by CKNX – Wingham, ON.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260508-ontario-greatlakes-protection
Wisconsin conservation groups and wildlife agencies are working to help the endangered Great Lakes piping plover recover by restoring sandy nesting habitats in places like Green Bay’s Cat Island and closely monitoring nests and chicks each breeding season. The efforts have helped the bird rebound in Wisconsin, with the state recording 11 nesting pairs in 2025 — one of the strongest totals in the Great Lakes region. Read the full story by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260508-wisconsin-pipingplover-comeback
Federal staffing and funding delays are threatening protections for endangered Great Lakes piping plovers in Michigan as the birds return to nest along Lake Michigan shorelines this spring. Conservation groups warn that postponed seasonal hiring and support could leave nests and chicks more vulnerable to predators, human disturbance, and habitat loss during the critical breeding season. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260508-greatlakes-pipingplovers-nesting-michigan
NOAA’s Thomas Jefferson is making its first routes on the Great Lakes this summer since 2022, with the task of mapping the waters of western and central Lake Erie, along with eastern Lake Ontario. The goal of this work is to improve navigation safety. Read the full story by CBS News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260508-noaa-research-ship-lake-erie
The U.S. Senate unanimously passed bipartisan legislation led by Gary Peters that would strengthen pipeline safety nationwide by increasing federal funding for inspections, improving cybersecurity protections, and supporting new leak-detection technology research. The bill also includes a proposal to establish a National Center of Excellence for hazardous liquid pipeline leak detection in the Great Lakes region to help prevent and respond to potential oil spills. Read the full story by The Alpena News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260508-bipartisanbill-us-pipeline-gary-peters
NOAA’s early 2026 forecast predicts a mild to moderate harmful algal bloom in western Lake Erie this summer, with bloom severity expected to fall between 2 and 5.5 on the agency’s scale. Scientists say the blooms are driven largely by phosphorus runoff flowing into the lake, especially from the Maumee River watershed, and can threaten drinking water, tourism, and aquatic ecosystems. Read the full story by The Plain Dealer.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260508-lake-erie-algalblooms-forecast
People living along the Lake Ontario shoreline are keeping a close eye on water levels, which rose significantly after one of the wettest early springs on record. Despite their concern, they’re starting to see some positive signs after two devastating floods in the past decade. Read the full story by Spectrum News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260508-lake-ontario-levels-flooding-fears
Crews in Erie, Pennsylvania, are working to raise the historic 115-year-old tugboat G Tug Hawaii, which has been submerged in Presque Isle Bay since late 2025 after sinking near the Bayfront. Officials hope salvaging the former Great Lakes Towing vessel will preserve an important piece of regional maritime history while preventing further deterioration underwater. Read the full story by Erie Times-News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260508-work-ongoing-tugboat-g-tug-hawaii-lakeerie
The Great Lakes Aquarium is asking local anglers and community members to donate smelt to help feed its river otters after seasonal shortages made it difficult to secure enough of the fish. The aquarium says smelt are an important part of the otters’ diet, and donated catches can help keep the animals healthy and active. Read the full story by WUBE – Cincinnati, OH.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260508-greatlakes-aquarium-smelt-donations-needed-otters
Explore the surprising culture of surfing on Lake Michigan, highlighting how strong winds and long stretches of open water can create surfable waves along Michigan’s shoreline. Experts explain the science behind Great Lakes wave formation and why freshwater surfing has become a unique part of life around the lake. Read the full story by Michigan Public.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260508-surfinglakemichigan
The U.S. Coast Guard’s Great Lakes District on Tuesday announced the use of autonomous drones starting this month on the Great Lakes. The so-called “sail drones,” unmanned vessels powered by both wind and solar energy, will be on the lakes from May to October. Read the full story by The Detroit News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260506-saildrones
A federal judge has temporarily prevented the Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa from restricting musky and walleye fishing on 19 lakes within its reservation in northern Wisconsin. The state’s federal lawsuit came after the tribe passed resolutions seeking to bar musky and walleye fishing by anyone except tribal members, citing “critically low” populations. Read the full story by Wisconsin Public Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260506-fishing-restrictions
It’s been years since Lake Ontario water levels have drawn concern. However, with a wet spring and heavier-than-normal snowfall, officials in coastal areas along Wayne County, New York, are on the edge of activating emergency plans to protect shorelines. Read the full story by the Finger Lakes Times.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260506-ontario-rising
Several Great Lakes and Mississippi River conservation groups are urging the federal government to take action against nitrate contamination in drinking water, which they say has reached “crisis levels” and is a public health emergency. Read the full story by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260506-nitrate
The proposed fiscal year 2027 U.S. budget includes the elimination of Integrated Ocean Observing System (IOOS) Regional Observations — the backbone of Great Lakes monitoring systems. If enacted, the cuts would significantly disrupt data collection efforts across the Great Lakes. Read the full story by The Observer.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260506-monitoring-cuts
As lake whitefish teeter on the brink of collapse in the lower Great Lakes, Michigan lawmakers are considering investing in a last-ditch effort to save the iconic species before it’s too late. Read the full story by Bridge Michigan.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260506-michigan-whitefish
Lake Huron yields hundreds of shipwrecks in places such as Thunder Bay’s “Shipwreck Alley.” Scientists and communities are working to explore, protect, and understand these underwater treasures, which face challenges from environmental change and human impact. Read the full story by Michigan Public.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260506-huron-shipwrecks
The use of an uncrewed vessel known as a Saildrone has helped researchers learn about aquatic life in Lake Erie. The Saildrone proved to be a viable and safer alternative to traditional research boats for collecting data. Read the full story by the Erie Times-News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260506-erie-saildrone
Saginaw Bay, Michigan, reportedly generated more than $60 million in economic activity last year via recreational angling; saw the harvest of 500,000-plus walleye; and accounted for 1.84 million angler hours, representing 42% of the total fishing effort in all Michigan waters of the Great Lakes. Read the full story by the Iosco County News-Herald.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260506-saginaw-bay
Most of Michigan’s Great Lakes are still extremely cold, although ice coverage is minimal. After a weekend of freezing temperatures across Michigan, most of the state lakes are hovering around 40 degrees. Read the full story by the Detroit Free Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260506-cold-lakes
With Lake Ontario expected to get near its flood stage later this week, lakeshore communities are preparing for the worst. Read the full story by WHEC-TV – Rochester, NY.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260504-ontario-flooding
A new research paper suggests that the billions of pieces of plastic might be giving algae particles more surface area to bind onto inside Lake Erie. Read the full story by the Toledo Blade.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260504-erie-algalblooms-microplastics
As fishing season begins, local fishermen and businesses are working together to share the flavors of Lake Superior—while preserving the lake that makes those traditions possible for generations to come. Read the full story by WDIO-TV – Duluth, MN.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260504-lake-to-table
After Bay City Western Middle School students in Michigan watched and cared for about 150 Chinook salmon that started out as eggs and grew to about two to two and a half inches long, it was time to release them into the Kawkawlin River. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260504-class-salmon-release
A fedral court issued a temporary restraining order preventing the Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians from restricting fishing of walleye and musky on certain lakes, after the band attempted to prohibit non-members from using forward trolling and forward-facing sonar on all lakes within the reservation’s boundaries. Read the full story by WITI-TV – Milwaukee, WI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260504-wisconsin-fishing
Governor Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan announced during a ceremony on Friday that six projects were awarded Governor’s Awards for Historic Preservation. The projects included Isle Royale National Park where the cultural resource program has conducted archaeological survey work along Nipissing beach, a “relic of Lake Superior shoreline approximately five thousand years old.” Read the full story by WLUC-TV – Marquette, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260504-isle-royale
As waters recede across northern Michigan waterways from last week’s historic flooding, local leaders, advocates and experts are renewing calls to bolster safety regulations, upgrade or remove some of the state’s aging dams. Read the full story by Michigan Advance.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260504-dams
Northern Indiana’s shorefront steel industry is the largest grouping of steel mills in the country and an economic engine for the local economy. Activists want steel production to transition away from using coal as soon as possible. Read the full story by the Allegheny Front.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260504-clean-steel-mills
Between shipping and tourism, the Great Lakes generate billions of dollars for the Michigan economy. Read the full story by WDIV-TV – Detroit, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260504-michigan-economy
Approximately 180 non-native species now live in the Great Lakes, and about a third of them are considered invasive, the three biggest threats are zebra mussels, sea lamprey and invasive carp. Each one is quietly disrupting the ecosystem that millions of people and animals depend on every single day. Read the full story by WDIV-TV – Detroit, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260504-gl-threats
Lake Ontario has reached a critical threshold along parts of its southern shore, prompting emergency preparations as officials warn water levels will continue rising in the days and weeks ahead. Read the full story by FingerLakes1.com.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260501-rising-water-levels
With the completion of its latest wetland project, Ohio officials celebrated the enhancement of 43 acres of Lake Erie coastal marsh into high-quality wetlands. The project aims to use natural processes to reduce sediment, phosphorus and nitrogen through the wetland before water returns to nearby ditches and flows back into Lake Erie. Read the full story by Spectrum News 1.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260501-weland-restoration
A Michigan-based organization is working to transform Greek olive barrels into 58-gallon rainwater collectors with the goal of preventing excess stormwater from running into the Great Lakes. Read the full story by WXYZ-TV – Detroit, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260501-rain-barrels
Piping plover season is officially underway in Wisconsin, and this year marks a decade since they started nesting in Green Bay after being gone for more than 70 years. Read the full story by WUWM – Milwaukee, WI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260501-piping-plover-recovery
Water level sensors at a few points on Michigan’s Great Lakes show a clear picture of accelerated water level rises. While the Great Lakes typically start rising in March, once the snowmelt starts flowing into the Great Lakes and spring rain gets heavier, the magnitude of the water level rise is striking. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260501-michigan-water-levels
The Michigan Department of Natural Resources will soon launch its research vessel Lake Char from Marquette, Michigan, to conduct essential lake trout research in Lake Superior. Though the vessel was scheduled to begin its 2026 work April 27, unexpected issues at its current storage facility have delayed launch, affecting this year’s survey schedule. Read the full story by WLUC-TV – Marquette, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260501-research-vessel
The annual spring walleye run on the Maumee River is coming to a close as late-April water temperatures climb, prompting the fish to finish spawning and begin their journey back to Lake Erie. Read the full story by WTOL-TV – Toledo, OH.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260501-walleye-run
This weekend, thousands of volunteers will descend on Great Lakes beaches for nurdle counts and clean-up events at their local waterways. The goal is to help identify plastic pellet pollution and make the case for action. Read the full story by the Chicago Sun-Times.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260501-plastic-cleanup
A viral social media post claiming two great white sharks are headed for the Great Lakes is making the rounds and it’s completely false. The cold freshwaters of the Great Lakes make them inhospitable to most shark species, which need saltwater to survive. Read the full story by WDIV-TV – Detroit, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260501-shark-free
As Great Lakes cruise lines gain popularity, learn about four different Great Lakes cruise options to explore the region and its waters. Read the full story by USA Today.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260501-cruise-options
Traverse City, Michigan, officials say the still-unfinished FishPass structure on the Boardman River helped keep upstream water levels lower than they likely would have been under the former dam, sparing the city from a larger disaster during recent flooding. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260429-traverse-city
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service personnel are returning to Door County in Wisconsin to apply chemicals to a creek in the Town of Clay Banks and hopefully save thousands of pounds of fish in Lake Michigan. Read the full story by the Green Bay Press-Gazette.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260429-door-county
Any day now, a piping plover will make its seasonal return to Wasaga Beach in Ontario, as it has done every spring for nearly 20 years. Due to the elimination of key protections, the plover’s beachfront home is less secure this year. Read the full story by Great Lakes Now.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260429-canada-plover
Today students from across the western Lake Erie basin will gather in Sarnia and Point Edward, Ontario for the Lake Erie Student Summit, a hands-on event focused on building the knowledge, skills, and connections needed to protect this globally significant freshwater ecosystem. Read the full story by Stratford Today.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260429-erie-student-summit
Today students from across the western Lake Erie basin will gather in Sarnia and Point Edward, Ontario for the Lake Erie Student Summit, a hands-on event focused on building the knowledge, skills, and connections needed to protect this globally significant freshwater ecosystem. Read the full story by Stratford Today.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260429-erie-student-summit
Many birds cross the lakes stopping to rest on small islands such as Kelley’s Island in Ohio. Bird banders are on a mission to band 100,000 birds on the island to better understand migration patterns. Read the full story by Great Lakes Now.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260429-bird-tracking
Many birds cross the lakes stopping to rest on small islands such as Kelley’s Island in Ohio. Bird banders are on a mission to band 100,000 birds on the island to better understand migration patterns. Read the full story by Great Lakes Now.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260429-bird-tracking
Michigan Trout Unlimited is looking for residents to help collect stream samples to be tested for didymosphenia geminate, an algae nicknamed “didymo” or “rock snot”, that has been found in at least six Michigan rivers since 2015. Read the full story by Bridge Michigan.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260429-rock-snot-testing
