Ship Stuck in the Harbor: Grand Haven, MI

Today the St. Marys Challenger got stuck in the Grand River and a tug and an ice breaker are trying to get it through.  It may take all day because the ship has not gotten very far after several hours.  The photo shows ice ridges that have formed along the Lake Michigan beach in Grand Haven, MI due to the strong winds and cold weather.  Ice in  the Grand River is blocking the passage of the ship.
video from a drone  click here for a youtube picture of the freighter and ice breaker.

Duluth, Minnesota to Kingston, Ontario

Pictured is Duluth, Minnesota

On the Great Lakes, linked by connecting rivers and man made locks, a ship may navigate for 2,342 miles from Duluth, Minnesota

at the western tip of Lake Superior to Kingston, Ontario at the entrance of the St. Lawrence River and then down the Saint Lawrence River to the Gulf of St. Lawrence to the North Atlantic

Ocean making shipping to and from the Great Lakes worldwide.

Excerpt from the Dynamic Great Lakes

Buffalo New York

As a falcon flies, it's 80 miles from Presqueile, PA to Buffalo, New York, a highly populated city.  Freighters carry coal, iron and grains to ports on Lake Erie and the upper Great Lakes. Fishing boats are catching walleye.

 Buffalo is located on the Niagara River where the waters from the Great Lakes above it rush madly toward Niagara Falls.  The Welland Canal was built parallel to the Niagara River to let ships pass around Niagara Falls.  Unlike the Niagara River with its turbulent currents and mighty waterfall, the Welland Canal was engineered with a system of locks that allow 1,000 foot ships as well as small pleasure boats to pass around Niagara Falls and into and out of the Upper Great Lakes on the giant staircase filled with water.

Map of Bird and Wildlife Refuges on the Detroit River

An ore boat loaded with iron ore from Lake Superior passes manufacturing plants along the Detroit River.  Other freighters carrying grain and manufactured goods head for their home ports that could be any place in the world since the outlet of the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River is the Atlantic Ocean. 

The peregrine falcon lands on Grassy Island in the Detroit River, 18 miles from the outlet of Lake St. Clair.  Grassy Isand is a favorite resting spot for migrating birds.  She snatches a weary Blackburnian warbler with bright orange and black plumage in her talons.  This is one of many refuges for birds.  Large cities near Lake Erie have not discouraged wildlife from following the patterns they have followed for thousands of years.  With its shallow, warm waters and abundant wetlands, Lake Eries fish and wildlife still find an environment with abundant food and shelter.