Proposed Designation of Lake Erie Quadrangle National Marine Sanctuary
NOAA's Office of National Marine Sanctuaries is considering designating a new national marine sanctuary in Lake Erie, adjacent to Pennsylvania, and the public is invited to participate in the first step of the process. Erie County, Pennsylvania submitted a nomination in 2015, and NOAA is now considering sanctuary designation to protect the region's maritime heritage resources, including a nationally significant collection of shipwrecks.
The images and videos below can be downloaded in high resolution and may be freely used for press purposes.
Area proposed for Lake Erie Quadrangle National Marine Sanctuary
Map: NOAA
The U.S. Brig Niagara, home-ported in Erie, Pennsylvania, is a reconstruction of Oliver Hazard Perry's relief flagship during the Battle of Lake Erie.
Credit: VisitErie
The Bicentennial Tower is an observation tower in Erie, Pennsylvania that features panoramic views of Lake Erie, Presque Isle State Park, and downtown Erie.
Credit: VisitErie
Built in 1889, the Philip D. Armour foundered in a gale while being towed on Nov. 13, 1915, northwest of Presque Isle Light, Lake Erie. Enroute from Ashtabula, Ohio, to Welland, Ontario, with a cargo of coal, the wooden barge and former steamer drifted onto a shoal and sank.
Credit: Kenneth Thro Collection at University of Wisconsin-Superior (Thunder Bay Research Collection)
The two-masted brig, Oxford, sank after colliding with the steamer Cataract and now lies in 160 feet of water within Lake Erie.
Credit: Jeremy Bannister Photography
Photomosaic image of Indiana, known to local divers as "the stone wreck." The Indiana, a wooden barquentine or three-mast topsail schooner, carried a load of paving stone when it sank in a storm in Lake Erie in 1870.
Credit: Jeremy Bannister Photography
Aerial view of Perry Monument at Presque Isle State Park in Erie, Pennsylvania, which honors those who fought in the Battle of Lake Erie. Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry led a fleet to victory in one of the most decisive naval battles to occur in the War of 1812.
Credit: VisitErie
Assessing potential shipwreck locations in Lake Erie, Erie Pennsylvania.
Credit: Anna McCartney/Pennsylvania Sea Grant
Visitors explore treasures lost but found at the 2016 Shipwreck Exhibit at the Tom Ridge Environmental Center in Erie, Pennsylvania.
Credit: Sarah Whitney/Pennsylvania Sea Grant