About 4,300 swimmers gathered at Chicago’s North Avenue Beach for the 26th annual Polar Plunge into the 35-degree Lake Michigan, put on by Special Children’s Charities to raise money for Special Olympics Illinois. Read the full story by the Chicago Sun-Times.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260302-chicago-polar-plunge
Energy company Enbridge has finally started work on rerouting an aging oil pipeline around a tribal reservation in northern Wisconsin after seven years of legal wrangling, moving ahead despite two new lawsuits that still could delay the project indefinitely. Read the full story by the Associated Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260227-enbridge-reroute
On Friday, February 20, the Wisconsin Assembly unanimously passed two bills to help residents with PFAS mitigation after 30 months of debate. Governor Tony Evers approved $125 million for PFAS cleanup in 2023, but Republican lawmakers disagreed with how the funds would be distributed. Read the full story by Great Lakes Now.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260227-wisconsin-pfas
The “nurdles” that scattered along I-196 and into Michigan’s Kalamazoo river after a January 27 semi-truck crash are the same industrial pellets that researchers have been finding for years on Great Lakes beaches, underscoring the threat of microplastics to Great Lakes ecosystems. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260227-oodles-of-nurdles
Although this year is an exception, Lake Erie has seen more low‑ or no‑ice winters over the past 50 years. With less ice, storms are more likely to drive water inland. Officials are developing new ways to protect shorelines from sudden flooding and longer storm seasons. Read the full story by the New York Times.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260227-erie-surges
For one day last week, Lake Superior gave thousands of people a rare gift — then took it back. The Apostle Islands ice caves, accessible for the first time since 2015, drew visitors from across the country before a winter storm shattered the ice shelf less than 24 hours after they opened. Read the full story by the Ashland Daily Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260227-ice-caves
The AquaHacking Challenge is a free program challenging students, researchers, and professionals to safeguard the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence. The launch of the challenge celebrates the program’s 10th anniversary and its expanding footprint across the United States and Canada. Read the full story by WDIV-TV – Detroit, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260227-aquahacking
Peer-reviewed studies have detected microplastics in Lake Michigan and the other Great Lakes. The findings raise urgent questions about what everyday plastic use is sending into the lake and the millions of people who rely on it. Read the full story by The Fulcrum.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260227-lake-plastic
A couple living on Put-in-Bay, a small island near Toledo, Ohio, recently celebrated their big day in an unconventional way. Last weekend, they tied the knot on top of the ice on Lake Erie. Read the full story by WXMI-TV – Grand Rapids, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260227-ice-wedding
When a pair of Canadians got stranded on the ice on Lake St. Clair in southwestern Ontario on Tuesday, an American team with a U.S. Coast Guard helicopter ended up coming to their rescue. Read the full story by the CBC.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260227-canadian-rescue
Park Township, Michigan, has completed its purchase of a vacated Coast Guard station and plans to renovate the building into a new water rescue operations facility. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260227-coast-guard-renovation
The combined ice coverage total for all of the Great Lakes peaked at 58 percent on February 9. The current ice coverage on all of the lakes combined is 33 percent. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260225-greatlakes-ice-reached-peak
As goes Iron Range iron ore pellet production, so goes the iron ore docks in Duluth, Minnesota, and Superior, Wisconsin. Iron ore tonnage shipped from the Port of Duluth-Superior fell 14.9 percent in 2025 compared to 2024. Read the full story by the Mesabi Tribune.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260225-iron-ore-shipments-pellet-production-decline
Local groups in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula are promoting National Invasive Species Awareness Week by educating the public and organizing efforts to protect ecosystems, such as cleaning boats to prevent the spread of invasive species and planning spring removal and native planting activities. Read the full story by WLUC-TV – Negaunee, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260225-upperpeninsula-supports-national-invasive-species-awareness-week
A coalition of Wisconsin environmental advocacy groups filed a lawsuit Monday challenging an administrative law judge’s decision to uphold the Department of Natural Resource’s permit approval to reroute the Enbridge Line 5 oil pipeline across northern Wisconsin. A similar lawsuit has also been filed by the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa. The tribe for years has fought against the pipeline, which currently runs across its land. Read the full story by the Wisconsin Examiner.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260225-environmental-groups-challenge-dnr-line5-decision
An unusually snowy 2025–2026 season has helped draw tourists to northern Wisconsin’s outdoor winter attractions like the Apostle Islands ice caves, but many locals and industry groups say that reliably snowy winters are becoming less common and more unpredictable. Read the full story by Wisconsin Public Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260225-snowy-season-wisconsin-boost-tourism
The Supreme Court on Tuesday heard arguments in a long-running dispute over the fate of an oil and gas pipeline in the Great Lakes. Michigan state officials had sued a Canadian company that operates a section of the pipeline, known as Line 5, which snakes under the Straits of Mackinac between Michigan’s Lower and Upper Peninsulas. Read the full story by The New York Times.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260225-supreme-court-fate-greatlakes-pipeline
If you go ice fishing around Door County and have a shanty out on the bay of Green Bay or Lake Michigan, you’ve got a little more than two weeks left to get the shanty off the ice. Read the full story by Green Bay Press-Gazette.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260225-ice-fishing-door-county-dnr-reminders-ice-shanties
With frequent sub-freezing temperatures in Michigan this winter, it has been a great year for ice fishing. Stable ice conditions have allowed anglers the opportunity to get out on the ice and participate in a northern winter tradition. Read the full story by the Lasco Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260225-gennessee-county-fishing-opportunities
In Traverse City, Michigan, crews are pouring a massive sorting channel that will form the core of the FishPass project, a globally unique structure in northern Michigan that’s designed to let native fish move upstream while blocking harmful invasive species like sea lamprey. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260223-fishpass-construction
The Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa has filed a petition with Wisconsin’s Iron County Circuit Court to review a decision allowing Enbridge’s Line 5 reroute project to move forward as well as put a stop to construction until the Court considers their legal claims. Read the full story by the Wisconsin Public Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260223-line5-opposition
The community-led Indigenous water research initiative, Ohneganos Ohnegahdę:gyo, has worked to address water insecurity through holistic capacity building grounded in Indigenous knowledge. These efforts will be expanded through a new Haudenosaunee Environmental Research Institute with Indigenous partnering hubs across the Great Lakes region. Read the full story by the Great Lakes Echo.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260223-water-insecurity
Part of Arcadia Dunes: The C.S. Mott Nature Preserve, Overlook Trail is a popular, universally accessible path that starts at Baldy Trailhead, just north of Arcadia off the M-22 scenic byway. All year round, this short walk through the woods ends with dazzling views of Lake Michigan from atop a high bluff. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260223-michigan-trail
Minnesota officials are calling on the city of Duluth to pay for a mistake believed to have led to a Tischer Creek fish kill that began in 2024. The city released about 1.7 million gallons from a drinking water reservoir into a designated trout stream causing damage along a 2-mile stretch of the waterway. Read the full story by Duluth News Tribune.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260223-duluth-fish-kill
Michigan’s recent warm spell brought 60-degree days to much of the state and melted a significant amount of ice on the Great Lakes. Great Lakes researchers reported just over 35% ice cover as of Friday. Read the full story by the Detroit Free Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260223-ice-cover
The Au Sable Light Station in Michigan’s Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore is looking for volunteer keepers for the months of June and July 2026. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260223-lighthouse-keepers
The New York Department of State is developing an immersive extended reality experience and modular exhibit highlighting at least two “iconic” shipwrecks in what’s now the federally designated Lake Ontario National Marine Sanctuary. Read the full story by WXXI – Rochester, NY.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260223-shipwreck-exhibit
PFAS are posing a threat to the Great Lakes, one of America’s most vital water resources. Here’s what we’re learning about how PFAS are getting into the lakes, the risks they’re posing, and how to reduce those risks in the future. Read the full story by the Ohio Capital Journal.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260223-pfas
The Canadian Coast Guard Auxiliary has launched a recruitment campaign for volunteer search and rescue crew members. The unit provides marine search and rescue support across Lakes Erie and St. Clair and the Detroit River. Read the full story by The Windsor Star.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260223-coast-guard-volunteer
Ice on the Great Lakes, and Lake Superior specifically, is a great way to measure climate for the region. The last time Lake Superior completely froze over was 30 years ago in 1996. Read the full story by Minnesota Public Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260220-superior-ice
Flint, Michigan, is known for having significantly higher-than-average water rates, with residents paying some of the highest water bills in the nation, even after the Flint Water Crisis. Residents are facing a proposed 6.83% rise in water rates in 2026. Read the full story by the Flint Courier News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260220-flint-water-rates
Rapidly warming temperatures have surprisingly compromised Lake Erie ice fishing from Toledo to Cleveland, and beyond, as rivers have opened up to help steadily shrink an unusually thick ice cover. Read the full story by the Plain Dealer.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260220-erie-icefishing
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation announced the release of proposed changes to coolwater sportfish regulations that will help protect fish while spawning, increase the reproductive capacity of walleye in Lake Ontario’s eastern basin, and eliminate unnecessary special regulations. Read the full story by Lake Placid News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260220-dec-regulations
Fisheries researchers are experimenting with stocking Great Lakes whitefish in a northern Michigan river to halt the crash of that population. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260220-whitefish-stocking
This year’s sturgeon season on Black Lake in Michigan ended at 8:48 a.m. on Saturday, February 7, after the harvest limit of six lake sturgeon had been reached in 48 minutes. Read the full story by the Iosco County News-Herald.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260220-sturgeon
Rare ice formations, last seen a decade ago, draw huge crowds within hours off the Apostle Islands in Wisconsin. But volatile weather conditions force a swift shutdown as officials play it day-to-day. Read the full story by Wisconsin Public Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260220-ice-caves
Saginaw Bay supports a productive fishery today, but much of its historic habitat was lost decades ago. Rock reefs are a critical habitat, and rebuilding reefs does not recreate the past — but it strengthens the ecological foundation needed to support resilient fish populations in the future. Read the full story by the Ludington Daily News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260220-saginaw-bay-reefs
A newly discovered Lake Erie shipwreck has been confirmed as the Clough, a 125-foot stone-hauling vessel built in Lorain, Ohio, in 1867 that sank just one year later during the height of Great Lakes commerce. Read the full story by the Plain Dealer.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260220-shipwreck-clough
Freighters cruise up and down the Detroit River, returning from or headed to the Great Lakes. But what happens when those freighters need something from the mainland? It turns out these boats utilize a unique mail service in Detroit that has been operating for more than 150 years. Read the full story by the Michigan Public.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260220-ship-mail
A new study examines the uniqueness of work that research centers conduct in the Great Lakes region, highlighting their importance amid dramatic changes in federal funding. Research centers in the region work together as a collaborative that complements each of them, underscoring the vitality of this network. Read the full story by Great Lakes Echo.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260218-research-centers
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation last week announced the release of proposed changes to coolwater sportfish regulations to help protect spawning fish, increase the reproductive capacity of walleye in Lake Ontario’s eastern basin, and eliminate unnecessary special regulations. Read the full story by The Syracuse Post-Standard.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260218-sportfishing-regulations
Shipwreck hunters discovered a sunken Canadian freighter—the James Carruthers—on Lake Huron last year, the last shipwreck to be found that went down in the lake during a famous 1913 storm. The vessel was a large steel freighter equipped with state-of-the-art communication and safety equipment and was launched in Ontario in 1913, the same year it sank. Read the full story by The Detroit News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260218-shipwreck-discovery
Ashland, Wisconsin’s new $11.5 million water intake pipe is operating successfully after crews repaired construction damage before bringing the system online in November. The new pipe, stretching out into Lake Superior, replaces the former intake constructed in 1891 that required multiple repairs over the years. Read the full story by the Ashland Daily Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260218-infrastructure-repairs
Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore was named the fourth best “one-of-a-kind” beach in the world by TripAdvisor in February 2026. The ranking is based on a high volume of positive reviews and opinions submitted to the TripAdvisor community over a 12-month period. Read the full story by WWTV – Cadillac, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260218-dune-honors
More than 30 years ago, a group of scientists planted 4,200 seeds of the rare Pitcher’s thistle in the western Great Lakes sand dunes. Today, the restored populations are thriving and spreading, providing the foundation for a newly published study. Read the full story by The Iron Mountain Daily News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260218-flower-restoration
The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources reported that since the sturgeon spearing season began on Saturday, there have been 1,092 sturgeon speared on Lake Winnebago: 521 adult females, 423 males and 148 juvenile females. Another 279 fish were speared on upriver lakes Poygan, Winneconne and Butte des Morts. Read the full story by WLUK-TV – Green Bay, WI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260218-sturgeon-spearfishing
More than 150 years after it sank in Lake Erie, the stone-hauling sailing vessel the Clough has been positively identified, the National Museum of the Great Lakes (NMGL) announced Wednesday. The Cleveland Underwater Explorers (CLUE) worked with the support of NMGL to identify the vessel, classified as a “bark” – a three-masted vessel rigged with square sails on the foremast, and schooner sails on the main and mizzen masts. Read the full story by WTOL-TV – Toledo, OH.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260218-shipwreck-identification
At the peak of the deep freeze, ice caves and ice volcanoes appeared along the shores of Lake Erie in Crystal Beach, Ontario. Lake Erie is nearly 95% covered in ice; if the cold weather continues across the Great Lakes Region, the possibility exists that Lake Erie could reach 100% ice cover for only the fourth times since records began. Read the full story by BurlingtonToday.com.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260218-erie-ice
The recent discovery of the Lac La Belle, which sank to the bottom of Lake Michigan in 1872, does more than scratch it from the list of long-sought shipwrecks. It takes one back – if only for a moment – to when traveling around the Great Lakes didn’t mean climbing in a car or boarding a train but buying a ticket on a steamer. Read the full story by The Plain Dealer.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260218-shipwreck-history
Whitefish have declined because of invasive species and climate change-fueled loss of winter ice cover on the Great Lakes. Now scientists are testing whether rivers can serve as spawning refuges. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260216-whitefish-spawning-refugia
