lakemichigan

Atmospheric Illusion – Fata Morgana

Posted on August 27, 2009August 27, 2009 by Michigan in Pictures

Atmospheric Illusion – Fata Morgana #1/3, photo by jimflix.

I’ll turn Michigan in Pictures over to Jim today to talk about a phenomenon that we see on the Great Lakes.

This strange visual / atmospheric effect was going on that early May evening above the Manitou Islands — like a double reflection at a certain height above the water. That’s the South Manitou Lighthouse.

It turns out this is a Fata Morgana — “an atmospheric mirage, commonly seen in frigid Polar regions, caused by complexly arranged thermal gradients, within a temperature inversion. The word, from Italian, means ‘Fairy Morgan’, and alludes to Morgan LeFay, King Arthur’s sorceress half sister, who legendarily had the power to create crystal palaces in the air.” See here for more details.

This was taken standing on the shore at Sleeping Bear Point. In this photo, noise was reduced and the color enhanced, but otherwise it’s unaltered. Here are two more photos taken the same night: one and two.

Be sure to check out the other photos Jim has linked above, see this bigger and explore his Manitou Islands set (slideshow)

Read more about the South Manitou Island Lighthouse from the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore and also about the South Manitou Island Lighthouse Project.

Pier Beam – Cross Village, Michigan

Posted on August 20, 2009August 20, 2009 by Michigan in Pictures

Pier Beam – Cross Village, Michigan, photo by Bill Schwab.

Check it out larger in Bill’s Michigan slideshow and view more of his work at billschwab.com.

Grand Haven Coast Guard Festival and Coast Guard Cutters Mackinaw

Posted on July 24, 2009July 24, 2009 by farlane

Old USCG Mackinaw and New USCG Cutter Mackinaw, photos by Bass Dude

On an average day, the Coast Guard will conduct 109 search & rescue operations, saving 10 lives and assisting 192 people in distress. The Grand Haven Coast Guard Festival is the nation’s largest festival that honors the men and women of the US Coast Guard. It takes place July 24 – August 2 in Grand Haven and features nightly entertainment at Waterfront Stadium, arts & crafts, downtown carnival, parades, ship tours and the world’s largest musical fountain with spectacular fireworks. This year is the 85th annual occurrence of the festival which unofficially began in 1924 as a Coast Guard personnel only picnic and has grown to attract over 350,000 people including the nation’s highest ranking Coast Guard dignitaries.

The Coast Guard Cutters Bristol Bay and Mackinaw will be in Grand Haven for the festival and offering tours. The 290 feet long old Mackinaw (WAGB 83) was built in Toledo, Ohio and commissioned in December 1944 and decommissioned June 10, 2006. It is now the Icebreaker Mackinaw Maritime Museum in Mackinaw City (here’s a tour of the Mackinaw).

The new US Coast Guard Cutter Mackinaw (WLBB 30) is the only heavy icebreaker assigned to the Great Lakes. It was commissioned June 10, 2006 and is powered by 3 Caterpillar 3612 Turbocharged V-12 engines – 3360 KW each. Prolusion comes from 2 ABB azimuthing electric propulsion drives where the propulsion motor is installed inside a submerged azimuthing (unlimited 360 degrees) pod and coupled directly to an extremely short propeller shaft. In addition to heavy icebreaking, the Mackinaw has state of the art systems and multi-mission capabilities that include servicing buoys, search & rescue, law enforcement and the ability to deploy an oil skimming system to respond to oil spill situations.

Check out this 360° tour of the Coast Guard Cutter Mackinaw and these photos from the Mackinaw’s launch via Boatnerd.

Be sure to check these photos out bigger (old and new) or in Skip’s Boats set (slideshow).

Throw in a Petoskey Stone Day

Posted on July 17, 2009July 17, 2009 by Michigan in Pictures

petoskey stones on the beach2, photo by jimevans_2000.

In the summertime in northwest Michigan, almost any Lake Michigan beach will have a person or two slowly walking or wading their way along the beach, gathering Petoskey stones in a bucket.

While I don’t begrudge anyone the extra money from harvesting them or the simple pleasure of finding, I do get a little peeved that there are times when I can’t find one to show a visitor or child who has never seen one. In honor of that, I am hereby creating Throw in Petoskey Stone Day, wherein participants head to a likely beach, look for Petoskey stones and then throw them way out in the water so that folks in the months or years to come can find them. It takes place every year on the third Saturday of July – tomorrow this year and Saturday, July 17 2010 if you’re the planning ahead sort.

Wikipedia’s Petoskey stone entry says:

A Petoskey stone is a rock and a fossil, often pebble-shaped, that is composed of a fossilized coral, Hexagonaria percarinata. The stones were formed as a result of glaciation, in which sheets of ice plucked stones from the bedrock, grinding off their rough edges and depositing them in the northwestern portion of Michigan’s lower peninsula.

Petoskey stones are found in the Gravel Point Formation of the Traverse Group. They are fragments of a coral reef that was originally deposited during the Devonian period, about 350 million years ago. When dry the stone resembles ordinary limestone but when wet or polished using lapidary techniques, the distinctive mottled pattern of the fossil emerges. It is sometimes made into decorative objects. Other forms of fossilized coral are also found in the same location.

In 1965, it was named the state stone of Michigan.

You can learn more about the name of the Petoskey stone from Rose Petoskey.

Jim found these on the Lake Michigan shore near Watervale (an amazing resort). Be sure to check this photo out bigger.

Michigan Kiteboarding: Big Wind, Big Water

Posted on July 16, 2009January 27, 2013 by Michigan in Pictures

Getting to Grandma’s May Be Tricky, photo by docksidepress.

Check out some Michigan kiteboarding links from kiteUS and also Great Lakes Kiteboarding (check out their sweet video of a session on Lake Huron at Tawas.

Be sure to check this out bigger.

Invasive Menace of the Day: Round Goby

Posted on July 14, 2009August 23, 2011 by Michigan in Pictures

must be exterminated, photo by Kasey Carroll.

Kasey writes:

About ten seconds after I caught this, my fiancee’s uncle beat it repeatedly against the side of the boat. He said that it was an “intruder from outer waters and it must be exterminated because it eats all the perch eggs in Lake Eerie.” I’m sorry Peta. I didn’t do it.

See this bigger in her Things slideshow. The USGS Invasive Species Center page on the round goby says:

The round goby, Neogobius melanstomus, is a small, bottom – dwelling fish that was first found in the Great Lakes region in 1990. Originally from the Black and Caspian Sea areas of Eastern Europe, it is believed that this exotic species arrived in the ballast water of vessels coming into the Great Lakes. Since the first sighting in the St. Clair River, round gobies have spread to all of the Great Lakes and are working their way inland through the rivers and canal systems.

…Round gobies are found in all of the Great Lakes with the greatest numbers in Lake Erie, Lake St. Claire and southern Lake Michigan. Many of the areas with round goby populations are best described as infested. Once round gobies arrive they can become the dominant fish species. Round gobies prefer rocky, shallow areas, but have flourished in a variety of habitat types. Regardless of the habitat, round gobies are very aggressive fish that compete with native fishes for food and space. Anglers who fish in areas with round gobies often find that the gobies steal their bait and appear to be the only type of fish in the area.

Round gobies can eat zebra mussels in addition to fish eggs, plankton, fish, and benthic invertebrates. Because zebra mussels are filter feeders that accumulate contaminants in their body tissues, round gobies that eat zebra mussels may be consuming a high level of contaminants. When a predatory fish such as a walleye eats a round go by that has fed primarily on zebra mussels, they may be getting a much larger load of contaminants than they would from eating other types of prey fish. This could put dangerous concentrations of contaminants into sport-fish at a much faster rate.

According to the MLive, there are now an estimated 10 million pounds of gobies in Lake Michigan alone! More information at round goby on Wikipedia and from the round goby page on Protect Your Waters. How do we stop their spread? Always follow the procedure to Stop Aquatic Hitchhikers!

Michigan Schooner Festival – September 11-13, 2009

Posted on June 6, 2009June 6, 2009 by Michigan in Pictures

Last light of day…, photo by Doug Langham.

The inaugural Michigan Schooner Festival will take place September 11-13, 2009 in Traverse City. It will bring together six tall ships in West Grand Traverse Bay for rides aboard the ships, evening cruises, kids activities and more. “Song of the Lakes” will headline the entertainment with a performance on Saturday evening during a progressive-style party on the ships. Get all the details from MichiganSchoonerFestival.org.

The Friends Good Will out of South Haven won’t be there (at least this year) but the image was just too tasty to pass up! Be sure to check this photo out background bigalicious and also in Doug’s Friends Good Will slideshow.

When Octopi Fly

Posted on May 28, 2009May 28, 2009 by Michigan in Pictures

Octopi, photo by GH Patriot.

Last night the Red Wings managed to beat the Blackhawks 2-1 in an overtime thriller and return to the Stanley Cup. For those unfamiliar with the traditions of Hockeytown, I give you The Legend of the Octopus:

The Legend of the Octopus is a sports tradition during Detroit Red Wings home playoff games in which an octopus is thrown onto the ice surface for good luck. The origins of the activity go back to the 1952 playoffs, when a National Hockey League team played two best-of-seven series to capture the Stanley Cup. The octopus, having eight arms, symbolized the number of playoff wins necessary for the Red Wings to win the Stanley Cup. The tradition was first started on April 15, 1952 by Pete and Jerry Cusimano, brothers and storeowners in Detroit’s Eastern Market. The team swept the Toronto Maple Leafs and Montreal Canadiens en route to winning the championship, as well as winning two of the next three championships.

Since 1952, because the tossing of octopuses is generally viewed as a successful symbol of good luck, the practice has persisted each year; in one 1995 game, fans threw 36 octopuses, including a 30-pounder. The Red Wings’ unofficial mascot is a purple octopus named Al, and during playoff runs two of these mascots are also hung from the rafters of the Joe Louis Arena, symbolizing the 16 wins now needed to win the Stanley Cup. It has become such an accepted part of the team’s lore, that fans have developed what is considered proper etiquette and technique for throwing an octopus onto the ice.

Those octopi also flew a few weeks ago at the Grand Haven Kite Festival (click that link for a slideshow from the Absolute Michigan pool).

See this photo bigger in GH Patriot’s Other slideshow.

South Manitou Lighthouse Relighting Ceremony

Posted on May 26, 2009September 24, 2013 by Michigan in Pictures

KAScott_20081011_8056_trailsb, photo by Ken Scott, Photography.

via Leelanau.com

This Saturday (May 30) the National Park Service invites you to officially celebrate the relighting of the South Manitou Island Lighthouse. Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore installed a replica third-order Fresnel lens in the completely refurbished lantern room of the lighthouse last fall, a historic event was made possible by a partnership between the park service, Manitou Islands Memorial Society, Manitou Island Transit, and Electro-Optics Technology, Inc. The light was tested then, but it was too late in the season for the a formal ceremony.

Starting at 9:00 PM at the Maritime Museum in Glen Haven, a National Park Service ranger will present a half-hour interpretive program about the history of the Manitou Passage and the shipwrecks that made it necessary to install a lighthouse to guide mariners through its hazardous waters. Following the program, Superintendent Dusty Shultz and representatives from the partner groups will provide brief remarks and recognize the numerous donors who made this project a reality. Light refreshments will be served and when it’s dark enough, the light will be illuminated.

Ken’s photo of the South Manitou Island Light features a collection of 350, 30 second still images stacked to create startrails. Check it out bigger in Ken’s sky stuff slideshow.

This image is available for purchase as a fundraiser to help pay off the relighting renovation bills. Contact Ken at Ken Scott Photography for more information.

More about the relighting of the South Manitou Light…