Michigan Department of Natural Resources researchers said they determined a lake trout caught in Lake Superior in 2023 was 62 years old. According to officials, the fish, dubbed Mary Catherine, is the oldest known lake trout in the Great Lakes. Read the full story by The Detroit News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250822-old-trout
Experts on aquatic ecosystems say confirmed reports of blue-green algae blooms on Lake Superior are a cause for concern, but the degree to which they’re tracked nowadays is much more robust than in the past. Read the full story by SNnewswatch.com.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250822-superior-algal-bloom
Yorkville, Illinois, is preparing to receive Lake Michigan water from the DuPage Water Commission to replace the diminishing aquifer that currently serves the city. Officials say bids to build the first section of water pipeline are more expensive than expected. Read the full story by WSPY – Plano, IL.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250822-pipeline-bids
Work to reintroduce Lake Sturgeon to the Maumee River and Lake Erie is showing some promising results, researchers say. Read the full story by WTVG-TV – Toledo, OH.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250822-sturgeon-comeback
Earlier this month, the 1,000-year-flood event that hit Milwaukee led to the largest combined sewer overflow since the Deep Tunnel – a combined wastewater and stormwater sewer system – was installed in 1992, with more than five billion gallons of untreated water released into nearby waterways over the course of 78 hours. Read the full story by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250822-combined-sewer-overflow
Moving boats up and down through Erie Canal locks 34 and 35 in Lockport, New York used to take more than a dozen people 100 years ago; now, it’s a job of one. The current team of three operators, all of whom take solo shifts, is working through the celebration of the Erie Canal’s bicentennial anniversary. Read the full story by WKBW-TV – Buffalo, NY.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250822-erie-canal-bicentenntial
The Alliance for the Great Lakes invites volunteers from across the Great Lakes region to join for a Great Lakes Day of Action. Hundreds of Adopt-a-Beach volunteers will clean and celebrate Great Lakes shorelines as part of the International Coastal Cleanup. Read the full story by The Alpena News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250822-beach-cleanup
The Great Lakes’ water supply is threatened by increased demand from industries like data centers and mining, coupled with climate change impacts. Data centers, attracted by tax incentives, consume vast amounts of water, often untracked, while mineral mining poses contamination risks. Read the full story by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250820-water-supply-risks
Toronto’s deep lake water cooling network draws cold water from the lake and passes it through heat exchangers and circulates the cool water through a closed loop, connecting downtown buildings. When two of Toronto’s largest hospitals tapped the frigid depths of Lake Ontario for cooling, the impacts were immediate. Read the full story by the Penticton Herald.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250820-ontario-cooling-system
The Trump administration’s budget proposal calls for a $1.7 billion reduction in NOAA’s budget and directs the complete elimination of the Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research. This jeopardizes the existence of Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory in Ann Arbor, Michigan, the only federal freshwater research labs serving the Great Lakes. Read the full story by WEMU – Ypsilanti, Michigan.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250820-funding-cuts
Lawmakers in the Michigan House and Senate introduced several bills last week to crack down on microplastics in the Great Lakes. Specifically, the proposed legislation aims to limit pollution and study its impact on public health. Read the full story by WWMT-TV – Kalamazoo, Michigan.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250820-microplastic-bills
Owen Sound is one of six Ontario communities joining the first-ever Great Lakes Coastal Cleanup on World Rivers Day, to tackle shoreline litter and protect local waters. Read the full story by The Owen Sound Current.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250820-coastal-cleanup
Michigan wildlife managers are proposing a new lake sturgeon catch and release season in one portion of the state and a shortened harvest season in another. These decisions are informed by fisheries biologist assessments of lake sturgeon populations and law enforcement capacity to support the regulated seasons. Read the full story by Detroit Free Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250820-lake-sturgeon-regulations
Lake Superior has been named the cleanest lake in the United States in a new 2025 report which analyzed chemical data from the nation’s largest lakes and determined that Superior’s water registered virtually zero pollution. Read the full story by The Sun Times News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250820-clean-superior
A new FishPass barrier will replace the Union Street dam in Traverse City, Michigan, which is the last barrier between Lake Michigan and the Boardman-Ottawa River. This passageway will have the ability to sort and selectively pass desirable fish while blocking harmful invaders. Read the full story by Great Lakes Now.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250820-fishpass-project
The Great Lakes are filled with around 35,000 islands. Two of them have just been named among the top 11 most underrated islands in the country: Drummond Island in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula and the Apostle Islands in Wisconsin. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250820-great-lake-islands
Researchers used tree ring data and Indigenous oral histories to reconstruct the fire history of the Great Lakes region. Reintroducing controlled burns, often following Indigenous practices, is suggested as a way to manage forests and adapt to a changing climate. Read the full story by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250820-fire-history
Starting Monday, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s sea lamprey control team will begin putting lampricides in the Muskegon River in Michigan. Read the full story by WZZM-TV – Grand Rapids, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250818-muskegon-lampricides
A malfunctioning research buoy from the Lake Superior National Estuarine Research Reserve in Superior, Wisconsin, was rescued by the RV Blue Heron during a July trip shared by several area scientists. The buoy measures levels of potentially toxic blue-green algae. Read the full story by Wisconsin Public Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250818-blue-heron-rv
Two of the Great Lakes, Lake Huron and Lake Ontario, are within a fraction of a degree of their warmest surface water temperature measured in the past 30 years. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250818-warm-greatlakes
A new nature reserve created by the Thunder Bay Field Naturalists includes high cliffs, scenic bays and offshore islands at a 213-acre site on Lake Superior south of Neebing, Ontario. Read the full story by TBnewswatch.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250818-superior-nature-reserve
A Wisconsin adaptive sailing program created by the Milwaukee Community Sailing Center, in coordination with the Abilities Center, allows anyone to go sailing in Lake Michigan. Read the full story by WDJT-TV – Milwaukee, WI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250818-adaptive-sailing
People interested in protecting and improving Little Lake Butte des Morts in Winnebago County, Wisconsin, intend to form a nonprofit lake association to help fund and implement projects benefiting the public. Read the full story by the Appleton Post-Crescent.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250818-littlelake-buttedemorts
For the first time in the history of Tall Ships Erie, the Brig Niagara won’t be leading the way into Presque Isle Bay in Erie, Pennsylvania. Read the full story by the Erie Times-News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250818-brig-niagara
A new photo collection entitled The Third Coast: America’s Great Lakes Shoreline explores the locations, culture, and history that define the Great Lakes region—from the tulips of Holland to Sleeping Bear Dunes to the Straits of Mackinac and beyond. Read the full story by Northern Express.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250818-greatlakes-photography-culture
More than a dozen Michigan beaches are under bacteria advisories — or are closed — as Michiganders head into the third week of August. Read the full story by Detroit Free Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250818-beach-bacteria-advisories
Sheboygan, Wisconsin, has had a rich surf culture for more than half a century, and local tourism leaders eventually branded it “Malibu of the Midwest,” claiming the title of freshwater surfing capital of the world. Read the full story by KCUR – Kansas City, MO.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250818-surfing
Freshwater jellyfish roughly the size of a penny have recently been spotted in western and eastern Lake Erie. Most of the time, they’re stuck to the bottom of the lake as polyps, but occasionally they grow into the traditional jellyfish form. Read the full story by the Times-Reporter.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250815-erie-jellyfish
Microplastics are everywhere, including the Great Lakes. They come in many forms but are typically smaller than 5 millimeters. Scientists are concerned about their impact on human health. The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy will host its first virtual microplastics summit this October. Read the full story by WDET – Detroit, Michigan.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250815-microplastics-virtual-summit
Mining operations left behind uniquely colored beaches in Minnesota and Michigan, but the materials are different. Minnesota’s Black Beach in Silver Bay contains stamp sands from taconite tailings and is a popular tourist area. About 100 miles away in the town of Gay, Michigan, copper tailings have created a Superfund site. Read the full story by The Minnesota Star Tribune.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250815-mine-tailing-beaches
The Alpena County Library and the Friends of the Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary have installed a Story Walk along the Great Lakes Maritime Heritage Trail in Alpena, Michigan, for all to enjoy. The picture book tells the story of how the lakes were formed, their importance as a major source of freshwater, and how to preserve this amazing resource. Read the full story by The Alpena News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250815-story-walk
The bottom of the Great Lakes are home to thousands of shipwrecks and other historical artifacts. The state of Michigan has an Underwater Salvage and Preserve Committee that works to protect and preserve these bottomlands. One Central Michigan University staff member was recently re-appointed to this committee. Read the full story by WCMU – Mt. Pleasant, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250815-bottomlands-protections
A 62-year-old lake trout named Mary Catherine was found in 2023 on the reefs of a remote island in the middle of Lake Superior. While lake trout can live for decades, the discovery of a fish this old is unusual. Read the full story by WJBK-TV – Detroit, Michigan.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250815-old-trout
In 1878, a vessel carrying a cargo of rye grain sunk to the bottom of Lake Huron after hitting a submerged sand bank during a storm. Thanks to the perseverance of a Michigan whisky distiller, its haul is about to be used to make whisky. Read the full story by The Drinks Business.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250815-shipwreck-whisky
Nothing says quintessential Wisconsin summer like days spent on the shores of Lake Michigan and Lake Superior. And now, after the New York Times published a story highlighting six Great Lakes beaches, more than just Wisconsin residents may be flocking to the state’s lakeshores. Read the full story by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250815-nyt-highlight
Potential beach days are popping up across Michigan as drier and cooler weather approaches the state. However, 15 swimming spots are closed or under contamination advisories for water quality that’s unsafe or questionable for human contact. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250815-beach-closings
Hoping to plan a last-minute trip before the kids go back to school? Michigan’s Great Lakes offer a great opportunity to cool off and could be a quick trip, depending on where you live in the state. Read the full story by the Detroit Free Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250815-summer-ending
Nearly 100 people drown in the Great Lakes each year – an Upper Peninsula start-up called SwimSmart is working to address that. Read the full story by Second Wave Michigan.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250813-upper-peninsula-tech-company-beaches-safer
Though substantially reduced over the last 30 years by the impacts of invasive quagga mussels, yellow perch in Lake Michigan are showing signs of successful annual reproduction. Read the full story by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250813-yellow-perch-survival-reduction-wisconnsin
The St. Clair River is expected to be filled with floats this weekend for an unsanctioned event officials with the U.S. and Canadian coast guards are calling “inherently dangerous.” High risk factors include the fast-moving current, weather conditions, water temperature, large number of participants, lack of life jackets and alcohol consumption. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250813-us-canadian-coast-guard-warn-porthuron-floatdown
The Michigan Department of Natural Resources says it has stockpiled Michigan waters with 18 million fish so far this year. Fish stocking, a process in which officials raise and release both cool and coldwater species in state waters, occurs year-round, with additional fish stockings planned for the fall. Read the full story by the Detroit Free Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250813-dnr-adding-fish-michigan-waters
The Great Lakes Fishery Commission will receive a $2.1 million grant from the Environmental Protection Agency to address the invasive sea lamprey in the Grand River in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Read the full story by Great Lakes Echo.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250813-epa-grant-sea-lamprey-grandriver
Invasive sea lamprey are a huge problem for the Great Lakes, impeding efforts to restore the lake trout population and steelhead fisheries. Read the full story by the Pocono Record.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250813-lampreys-pa-lakeerie
Edmund Fitzgerald Memorial Swim participants had to abort their swim nine miles short of their finish at Sturgeon Point Lighthouse in Alcona County, Michigan, due to mechanical issues. Read the full story by The Alpena News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250813-edmund-fitzgerald-memorial-swim
In Michigan, Huron-Clinton Metroparks will recommend removing the Flat Rock and Huroc dams on the Huron River and replacing them with installed rock arches that would maintain wetlands and water levels in the impoundment behind the dam — a key concern of area residents. Read the full story by the Detroit Free Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250813-metroparks-flatrock-dam
The contested case hearing over Wisconsin state permits issued to Enbridge Energy for its Line 5 reroute project have begun, and both sides in the case already have staked out positions at opposite ends of the spectrum. Read the full story by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250813-enbridge-line5-pipeline
Anchor Bay Woods Preserve in New Baltimore, Michigan, is expanding by adding nearly 5 acres of rare wet-mesic flatwood forest. Preserving the area area is important for water quality and the overall ecosystem of Anchor Bay and Lake St. Clair. Read the full story by The Voice News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250813-six-rivers
In Ontario, experts are sounding the alarm about the spread of water soldier, an invasive aquatic plant that could affect the environment, recreational activity and, eventually, the economy. Read the full story by CBC News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250811-invasive-watersoldier
In Ontario, experts are sounding the alarm about the spread of water soldier, an invasive aquatic plant that could affect the environment, recreational activity and, eventually, the economy. Read the full story by CBC News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250811-invasive-watersoldier
The 2025 Review of the International Joint Commission’s Report on the “Protection of the Waters of the Great Lakes” was issued in draft form in July and is accepting public comments until August 31. Read the full story by Michigan Public.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250811-ijc-report
