Exploration

Until MSRA was formed, the waters off the coast of West Michigan were some of the least explored  in Michigan. Or, perhaps it is more accurate to say they may have been explored, but those conducting the exploration were unwilling to share their discoveries with the public. Rumors abound of shipwreck discoveries in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s by legends with names like Dick Race, Gene Turner, and Harry Zych.

There exist only a handful of discovered and documented shipwrecks. Many of these have provided a source of sport diving opportunities. However there is a rich wealth of historical information awaiting discovery. And that is where MSRA comes in.

The waters off West Michigan are not sheltered with harbors like so many other areas in Michigan. Prevailing west and northwest winds have scoured out the bottom, creating one of the deepest areas in the lake.

While just across the lake off Chicago, water is as shallow as 100 feet 10 miles offshore, the Michigan side drops off to that depth only 3 miles from shore. This condition may be the limiting factor in shipwreck discoveries.

 Discoveries are usually made by scuba divers interested in diving on virgin wrecks. Until recent advances in technical diving, which allows divers to go deeper for longer, shipwreck hunters paid very little attention to the region off west Michigan due to excessive depth.

Shipwreck discovery offers the opportunity to revisit the circumstances of the wreck and delve deeper into the history surrounding these tragedies. Careful study of the sunken remains can offer insights into the cause of the sinking and can help write the final chapter of stories in which there were no survivors. The excitement of a discovery instills new interest into the history of the ship, the people associated with it and the times in which it sailed. We can learn from the past!

MSRA directors have researched, planned, organized and conducted an annual spring search since 1998, (then, while affiliated with the SWMUP). Utilizing the services of renowned shipwreck hunter and side scan sonar expert David Trotter, the team has covered over 100 miles of bottomland off West Michigan. Each search season has involved 10 days of search efforts, weather permitting. Since 1998 MSRA has discovered two new shipwrecks, the H. C. Akeley lost in 1883 and discovered on May 25, 2001 off Saugatuck, Michigan and a  steel barge located off Holland in 2004.

The group also has charted an unusual clay formation off Pier Cove, now known as “The John Butler Johnson Memorial Claybanks”.

Shipwreck discovery is a significant responsibility. All shipwrecks in the Great Lakes belong to the individual states in which they have come to rest. While laws are in place that make it illegal to remove anything from a shipwreck site, the discovery of a new site opens it up to the potential of pillaging and disturbance.

MSRA takes this responsibility seriously and strives to document sites before they become the focus of intense diver visitation. MSRA also supports sharing newly discovered sites with responsible sport divers to make these wrecks available for recreational activity as soon as possible after the discovery.

Please visit our various shipwreck web pages listed on the "Discovery" page.

Join the team!