Lake Superior

Lake Superior is the largest of the five Great Lakes and the third largest body of freshwater in the World, by volume. To the north of the lake is the state of Minnesota and Ontario, a Canadian province. To the south of the lake are the states of Michigan and Wisconsin. The lake takes its name from European explorers, French more specifically, who titled it Le Lac Superieur. The name, anglicized, reads "Lake Superior." A common misconception is that the lake was seen as superior to the others for its size. Superieur, in French, means "upper" and instead is designating the lake as the northernmost lake of the Great Lakes.

In defense of that misconception, the lake is humungous. In fact, the lake is so large that it acts like an ocean and alters the surrounding climate to behave like coasts bordering the Atlantic Ocean. The body of water is extremely slow to heat and cool thus acting like a buffer against temperature change. This moderates the seasons, allowing unique agriculture to take place.

The southern shore of Lake Superior alone is home to beautiful sights of nature, many of which can be accessed through the Great Lakes Circle Tour. The Great Lakes Circle Tour is a designated scenic road system that links the Great Lakes with a single highway. Tourists could climb the Porcupine Mountains overlooking the lake, visit the Keweenaw Peninsula jutting into the body of water, or stop by Whitefish Bay to watch the birds and collect rare rocks.

Lake Superior plays a pivotal role in the local and national economy. Not only is the lake a source for massive fishing, clamming, and netting, but it also serves as a multi-destination platform of transportation. The lake is a crucial part of the Great Lakes Waterway and provides passage to iron ore, minerals, and manufactured goods. It also allows all of the surrounding areas to access the Atlantic Ocean for purposes of shipping, trade, and transportation.

Whitefish Point, in Whitefish Bay, earned the nickname "Graveyard of the Great Lakes." Many shipwrecks can be seen strewn across the lake floor, mostly due in part to the Great Storms of the North American Great Lakes. The Whitefish Point Underwater Preserve preserves these wrecks and the strange aquatic ecosystems that have resulted from it.

The lake maintains an average water temperature of just 4 degrees above freezing temperature. The unusually low temperature of the water heavily inhibits bacterial growth. What's interesting about this is that the bodies from various shipwrecks, in many other waters, would float to the surface within a few days due to gas generated inside the body from bacterial decay. Instead, the historical corpses remain at the bottom of the lake, spawning the legend that "Lake Superior seldom gives up her dead." Scuba divers and snorkelers can not only see the shipwrecks, but they can see everyone that was aboard the ship!