The Catch: News about the Lakes You Love

The Great Lakes are home to three of these sanctuaries, with a fourth potentially on the way. 

Go inside the Aquarium of Niagara’s new expansion dedicated to wildlife that calls the Great Lakes home.

A wooden steamship was found a century after it went missing in Lake Superior.

As climate change makes wildfires more common, work needs to be done to prepare people and communities for a smokier future.

A recent study has found a positive correlation between the clarity of lakes in Northern Wisconsin and the survivability of loon chicks.

Recent tests have found that PFAS levels in smelt are much lower than previously believed. 

Throughout the Great Lakes, cities are dedicating resources to make their waterfronts more accessible to residents and tourists.

In 2023, 13 shipwrecks were discovered in Wisconsin’s Lake Michigan waters, blowing away the previous record of 4 discoveries set in 2015.

Between 2017 and 2022, Wisconsin lost 10% of its farms and 30% of its dairy farms.

In the 2010s there were offshore wind project proposed throughout the Great Lakes region. So why haven’t any been built?

Scientists are exploring toxic algal blooms as a potential source of life-saving pharmaceutical drugs.

A draft report was released that says if the state wants to meet its goal of being carbon free by 2040, it will need to invest in new nuclear energy.

The EPA proposed new rules that would remove lead pipes from America’s drinking water infrastructure over the next decade. Chicago is a notable exception.

In Wisconsin, several coal plants have announced plans to shut down. But ratepayers are still saddled with the cost.

The aim of the largest project ever funded under a Great Lakes cleanup program is to remove contaminated sediments from a polluted hotspot in Milwaukee.

Take a look at why experts are saying water from greenhouses in southern Ontario could be harming Lake Erie.

The research is primarily aimed at tracking human DNA of sailors who perished when their ships sank in Lake Huron many years ago.

In the waters of Lake Superior, a group of six swimmers participated in a relay covering 48 miles.

The Citizens’ Research Council of Michigan published a report on where the state stands in terms of infrastructure, climate and the environment.

The event will include screenings of more than 80 environmental and outdoor-focused films at venues throughout Marquette.

The legislation gave the Great Lakes region specific standards of water quality that needed to be met in order for the lakes to be used for things like fishing, recreation and more.

Harmful algal blooms exist throughout the Great Lakes, but are especially pervasive in the western basin of Lake Erie.

A Supreme Court decision that came out in May changes and impacts wetlands throughout the country, including here in the Great Lakes.

NOVA has recently announced a new initiative called “Climate Across America” as part of their special Earth Month programming. 

Volcanic rocks left behind are still visible at multiple sites along Lake Superior’s shoreline.

Take a look at proposed nationwide standards on PFAS from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Great Lakes Now contributor Sharon Oosthoek wrote about a student citizen science initiative in her latest “Science Says What?” column.

Learn about citizen science initiatives with the founder of SciStarter, an online resource for people interested in contributing to scientific data collection.

A group of researchers analyzed data regarding PFAS in fish tissue harvested from freshwater lakes and streams across the country.

Brett Walton with Circle of Blue found that road salt can be bad for waterways.

Bridge Michigan reporter Kelly House said this winter has been especially cloudy.

Abigail Comar of Great Lakes Echo looked into how certain resources can improve environmental health literacy among the Great Lakes’ Anishinaabe population.

Verity Stevenson of the CBC talks about detailing the work a group of scientists are doing aboard the Lampsilis, a research vessel on the St. Lawrence River. 

A group of college students from Eastern Michigan University are studying freshwater jellyfish in Dexter Township, Michigan.

“There’s a lot to be learned from Ojibwe history and culture.”

The bots will collect plastic pollution as part of a larger binational effort called the Great Lakes Plastic Cleanup initiative.

Enbridge is facing government action and criminal charges stemming from violations during the construction of the Line 3 pipeline in Northern Minnesota.

It’s believed to be the oldest canoe ever discovered in the Great Lakes region and the second to be found in Lake Mendota.

“This past summer was a record-setting year for cruise ships in the Great Lakes, and that’s meant a lot more tourists coming to the region.”

Of the region’s 72 breeding pairs, 48 were in Michigan, and Michigan’s nests produced a record number of chicks.

The issue is part of a larger problem of declining insect populations in general.

The ship is the first American made bulk cargo carrier constructed on the Great Lakes in nearly 40 years.

The move marks the first time that land has been returned directly to a tribal entity in the state of New York.

“The EPA has indicated that they’re going to take a more active approach going forward with the sites that are regulated under their current rules.”

Environmental lawyers, activists and residents are pushing for this coal ash to be completely removed from the quarry and transported to a safer landfill.

Housed in a former coal-fired plant, the bitcoin mining operation is energy intensive.

Despite the modest size of the trees, they had been growing out of the cliffs for more than a thousand years, making them some of the oldest trees in eastern North America. 

Conservation scientists at Toronto’s Tommy Thompson Park are studying and banding bird species who pass through during yearly migration.

Lake whitefish, a native species in the Great Lakes, is experiencing what is known in the world of fisheries biology as a “recruitment problem.”

The new Great Lake Erie Birding Trail, with its mobile app, includes some 40 birding hot spots from Detroit to the Lake Erie islands and beyond.

In Milwaukee, officials are working to eliminate combined sewage overflows that can pour pollution into local waterways including Lake Michigan.

There are thousands of shipwrecks in the Great Lakes, but you don’t need scuba gear to see all of them.

Fresh examines the policy that impacts the people and places of the Great Lakes region.

Toronto-based journalist Andrew Reeves discusses a piece he wrote for Great Lakes Now about the history and current issues in Canadian water infrastructure.

Michigan Radio’s Lester Graham recently spoke with residents near inland lakes in northern Michigan about the causes of plant life and E.Coli showing up in previously crystal-clear water. 

Anishinaabe journalist Sierra Clark said harassment regarding tribal fishing is not something new in the state of Michigan.

Aiming to better coordinate efforts to restore the Great Lakes, promote related educational opportunities, and boost the region’s economic prospects, an Ohio legislator crafted a bill to create a federal Great Lakes Authority.

If you already suffer from seasonal allergies, get ready for more severe symptoms as the Great Lakes region experiences climate change in the coming decades.

Producer Dan Wanschura says the new series, called “Natural Selection,” includes multiple stories about the relationship between human resource management and the natural world.

Reporter Joseph S. Pete of the Times of Northwest Indiana joins Great Lakes Now to further explain why a sand dune is moving, what it means for visitors and ecosystems, and what park officials are doing about it.

Reporter Leonard Fleming at The Detroit News has been covering the story, and he joins Great Lakes Now for this segment to further explain the issues and impact in the west Michigan city.