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Press Release |
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FOR IMMEDIATE
RELEASE
NOAA02-r416
May 20, 2002
CONTACT:
Ellen Brody
Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary and Underwater
Preserve
(734) 741-2270
Will Support Mission to Uncover Lake Huron's Shipwrecks
The Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary and Underwater Preserve took a great leap forward in its ability to explore and preserve our nation's maritime history with a new partnership with the Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory (GLERL) to share use of GLERL's research vessel, the R/V Shenehon. Both the Sanctuary and Underwater Preserve and GLERL are managed by the Commerce Department's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
The R/V Shenehon, scheduled to travel from Muskegon to Alpena the week of May 13, will be docked behind the Federal Building on the Thunder Bay River from May to September each year.
During those months, the Shenehon will support activities of both the Sanctuary and GLERL. Its duties include deploying the Sanctuary's new mooring buoys, gathering baseline data on the shipwrecks, supporting the Institute for Exploration summer expedition, and conducting Great Lakes research.
"Having the Shenehon in Alpena for the summer allows the sanctuary to carry out many of its summer projects," said Acting Sanctuary Manager Ellen Brody. "The partnership with GLERL that allowed this to happen is a win-win situation."
GLERL recently finalized a lease agreement with the University of Michigan to operate the R/V Laurentian in Muskegon, which allowed the Shenehon to move to Alpena for the summer.
Built in 1974 at Leavenworth, Kansas, the 65-foot-long, 75-ton Shenehon has supported environmental research and educational needs throughout the Great Lakes region. With a crew of two and accommodations for three scientists, the ship can travel at 10 knots. The ship was commissioned and officially named the Shenehon in Detroit on June 25, 1965. She bears the name of Francis C. Shenehon, distinguished Chief Civilian Engineer from 1906 to 1909 at the Lake Survey Center, a precursor to NOAA.
The Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary and Underwater Preserve was designated in October 2001 to protect a nationally significant collection of underwater cultural resources. GLERL's mission is to conduct integrated, interdisciplinary environmental research in support of resource management and environmental services in coastal and estuarine water, with special emphasis on the Great Lakes.
The National Marine Sanctuary Program, established in 1972 by the National Marine Sanctuaries Act, is administered by NOAA Ocean Service. The goal of the sanctuaries act is to set aside and manage areas for resource protection, research, enhanced public education and compatible public and private uses.
Today, 13 national marine sanctuaries encompass more than 18,000 square miles of America's ocean and Great Lakes natural and cultural resources. For more information about the Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary and Underwater Preserve, visit http://www.glerl.noaa.gov/glsr/thunderbay/.
NOAA Ocean Service manages the National Marine Sanctuary Program and is dedicated to exploring, understanding, conserving and restoring the nation's coasts and oceans. NOAA Ocean Service balances environmental protection with economic prosperity in fulfilling its mission of promoting safe navigation, supporting coastal communities, sustaining coastal habitats and mitigating coastal hazards. To learn more about NOAA Ocean Service and the National Marine Sanctuary Program, please visit http://www.nos.noaa.gov.
