Mold Remediation in Lake Orion, MI

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The search for shipwrecks at the bottom of Lake Michigan yielded something scientists weren’t quite expecting: massive craters.

In 2022, researchers with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration surveyed Lake Michigan with sonar inside the Wisconsin Shipwreck Coast National Marine Sanctuary, an area known as the final resting place of at least 36 shipwrecks. This mapping turned more mysterious when researchers noted large depressions spreading for miles, all roughly 450 feet below the surface.

Those unique spots remained a curiosity until August 2024 when scientists were able to get back down there with a remotely operated, subaquatic vehicle, allowing the researchers to explore the “perfect, little circles,” Steve Ruberg, scientist at the NOAA’s Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory, told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

Of course, little is relative. The sinkholes stretch from 300 to 600 feet across. And just because there’s 40 in the one relatively small area, doesn’t mean there aren’t plenty more across the 22,000-square-mile lake.

In early investigations, the team noted freshwater shrimp and small, deepwater sculpin fish living in the craters, along with bacteria and invasive quagga mussels.

How the craters formed, how long they’ve been there, and just exactly what they are remains open for plenty of debate.

With sinkholes located recently at the bottom of Lake Huron, the definition between crater and sinkhole remains a sticking point. Sinkholes need groundwater under the lakebed to erode the bedrock and form caverns. Then, as sections of the bedrock collapse, sinkholes form, creating some even darker—and colder—environments that lack the same oxygen-rich amenities of the rest of the lakebed.

With no groundwater yet seen bubbling up through the Lake Michigan holes, scientists still call them craters. Ruberg, though, believes they’ll eventually locate the groundwater and classify them as sinkholes. But for now, not everyone is on the sinkhole bandwagon.

“I think they might be more accurately called craters,” Brendon Baillod, a shipwreck hunter involved in the project, told Live Science, “which have formed in the deep bottom sediment due either to water upwelling from below or trapped hydrocarbon offgassing.”

The newfound mysteries in Lake Michigan have area researchers excited. “It’s an extreme environment,” said Greg Dick, University of Michigan professor and director of the Cooperative Institute of Great Lakes Research, according to the Journal Sentinel. “We typically have to go to Antarctica or Yellowstone National Park or some exotic location to get these extreme ecosystems, but this is in our backyard in the Great Lakes.”

The newspaper reports that only 15 percent of the bottom of the Great Lakes has been mapped in high resolution, with less research done there than on the surface of Mars.

“Any kind of new discovery in the Great Lakes is exciting,” Russ Green, a maritime archaeologist and superintendent of the sanctuary, told Live Science. “But these features really stand out. We’ll be exploring them for years to come to learn more and sort out how they got there and what role they play in Lake Michigan’s ecosystem.”

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No. 12 takes on No. 17 in the Michigan high school football playoff game of the week when Clarkston travels to Lake Orion.

The game is scheduled to start at 7 p.m. ET Friday, Nov. 1.

Michigan high school football scores, live updates

This page will be updated with scoring plays, turnovers and other big plays. Refresh the page for the latest update (the most recent updates will be at the top).

You can also watch this game live on the NFHS Network (subscription required).

FINAL: Clarkston 34, Lake Orion 16

4TH QUARTER

TOUCHDOWN CLARKSTON! Alex Waszczenko plunges in from 1 yard out to make it 34-16 Clarkston with 1:33 left.

TURNOVER ON DOWNS! Clarkston knocks a fourth-down pass down and it's the Wolves' ball on the Lake Orion 17, 6:20 left, leading 27-16.

FUMBLE! Brandon Nepjuk knocks the ball loose and Lake Orion's Payton McIntyre recovers on its own 11, just under eight minutes left.

Aidan O'Neill misses a 47-yard field goal but he's roughed for a 15-yard penalty. Clarkston ball on the Lake Orion 14 with 8:52 left, leading 27-16.

Clarkston starts in Lake Orion territory after converting on third and long with a 20-yard Griffin Boman run to end the third.

3RD QUARTER

END OF 3RD QUARTER: Clarkston 27, Lake Orion 16

TOUCHDOWN LAKE ORION! Jahmari Cooper catches a bullet over the middle from Tristan Hill from 20 yards out and it's 27-16 Clarkston after the two-point try is no good. 2:30 left in the quarter.

TOUCHDOWN CLARKSTON! Lukas Boman gets in the TD action along with his twin brother on a 56-yard touchdown catch from Alex Waszczenko. It's 27-10 Clarkston with 7:09 left after the extra point is blocked.

Lake Orion gets one first down but then has to punt after a Brody Rotter sack. Clarkston ball on its own 29 with 8:50 left, Clarkston 21-10.

Lake Orion starts the second half with the ball on its own 20-yard line, trailing Clarkston 21-10.

2ND QUARTER

HALFTIME: Clarkston 21, Lake Orion 10

TOUCHDOWN CLARKSTON! Griffin Boman's third touchdown was SportsCenter-worthy, breaking tackles, keeping his balance and blasting through defenders for a 58-yard touchdown run to end the half.

FIELD GOAL LAKE ORION! A 28-yard field goal with 19 seconds left makes it 14-10 Clarkston. Lake Orion will start the second half with the ball.

Big catches by Ryan Rocheleau, Jackson Vasquez and Grady Harban have Lake Orion in the red zone with 42 seconds left.

TURNOVER ON DOWNS! Clarkston goes for it on fourth and 3 from the Lake Orion 15 and Alex Waszczenko's pass falls incomplete in the end zone. Still 14-7 Clarkston with 8:07 left.

TOUCHDOWN LAKE ORION! On third and 7 Tristan Hill slings a dart to Kyle England, who scores a 77-yard touchdown catch-and-run. It's 14-7 Clarkston with 10:59 left.

1ST QUARTER

END OF 1ST QUARTER: Clarkston 14, Lake Orion 0

TOUCHDOWN CLARKSTON! Griffin Boman scores from 5 yards out this time and it's 14-0 Wolves with 21 seconds left.

FUMBLE! Tristan Hill mishandles the snap and Clarkston recovers on the Lake Orion 18 with 1:51 left.

Clarkston punts right back but pins Lake Orion on its own 5. It's 7-0 Clarkston with 3:43 left.

Lake Orion goes three-and-out and Clarkston starts on its own 44 with 6:07 left.

TOUCHDOWN CLARKSTON! Griffin Boman finds a seam and takes off for a 49-yard touchdown run. It's 7-0 Clarkston with eight minutes left.

AJ Leitz makes an excellent open-field tackle on third down to force fourth and 2. And Clarkston gets the first down by half a yard.

We're underway! Lake Orion kicks to Clarkston, which starts the first drive of the game on its own 27.

PREGAME

Lake Orion has lost three of its last six games but beat Clarkston 20-13 at home Oct. 11.

Clarkston is running hot into the playoffs, coming off a 32-3 win over Eisenhower. The Wolves have outscored their last two opponents 73-3 heading into the postseason.

More Michigan high school football coverage from High School on SI

Bluechip defensive lineman ahead of Michigan visit: 'They're like DL U.'

Michigan (MHSAA) high school football 2024 playoff pairings

Michigan high school football computer rankings

10 best high school football games in the country (11/1/2024)

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Lake Michigan mystery boat in Milwaukee

If you've walked along the lakefront near McKinley Beach recently, you might have seen an abandoned "mystery" boat washed ashore.

The Brief

If you've walked along the lakefront near McKinley Beach recently, you might have seen an abandoned "mystery" boat washed ashore.

It's got a lot of people wondering how it got there, and how long will it stay?

Roughly two weeks ago, the boat washed ashore and landed itself in between Bradford and McKinley beaches.

"Here's a moment where you get to stop to smell the roses longer than you should," said boat spectator Marco Gonzalez. "It is really a mystery."

It took all hands on deck for people to figure out how a boat named "Deep Thought" got there in the first place.

"I seen it on Facebook, and it's just been here for days, and I’m curious," said another spectator, Judy Hinze. "I got to see."

"Somebody said I can’t afford this anymore between gas, and upkeep in the winter and just let it go," said another spectator, Mike Ray.

Despite lots of theories, the U.S. Coast Guard said the real story is that strong winds caused the boat to break loose and drift away. No one was on it and no gas was inside it.

And who is in charge of towing it?

"Everybody knows that we are the only people that do this crazy stuff," said Jerry Guyer with Pirates Cove Diving, Inc. "Every salvage is different, every salvage is dangerous."

Guyer and his crew at Pirates Cove Diving say removing a boat of this size isn't exactly smooth sailing.

"The wind, the wind, the wind," he said. "This heavy equipment, the barge, we have to get right up to the boat, you can’t be rocking around."

Although it's really up to Mother Nature for when they'll be able to take it away.

"I was hoping this week but I only have a couple more days until I go on vacation," Guyer said.

The U.S. Coast Guard said the boat owners are out of state right now, but are working with Guyer to remove it some time in November. So it might just be around for a little while longer.

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As per the researchers, underwater Stonehenge was more than 5,000 years older in comparison to one above the surface

In a mysterious discovery, scientists found an enigmatic stone structure - which appeared similar to the world-famous Stonehenge - sitting below Lake Michigan in the US.

As per experts, this underwater Stonehenge is more than 5,000 years older in comparison to its British counterpart on surface.

A team of archaeologists, headed by the professor of underwater archaeology at Northwestern Michigan College, Mark Holley, had discovered the site in 2007.

A survey of the lake bed was conducted by Holley and his colleagues when they discovered a series of large stones - which appeared to be arranged in a circular pattern near the coast of Traverse City, Michigan.

Also Read: A six-tonne stone in Stonehenge was transported from 750km away. Scientists wonder how

Holley later said that the discovery of rocks at a depth of about 40 feet (12.1 metre) was entirely unexpected.

In the analysis, it was found that the stones - which weighed around 3,000 lbs (around 1,360 kg) - appeared to have been arranged deliberately by humans in a circular pattern, as reported by Medium.

The circular pattern is nearly 40 feet in diameter and features an inner circle of stones which measures around 20 feet in diameter.

The stones are entirely made of granite and are likely to be around 10,000 years old, which makes them the oldest formation ever discovered in North America.

How was the Stonehenge created beneath Lake Michigan?

The stones in Lake Michigan are relatively similar in size, however, their origin remains mysterious and murky.

“Whilst they do seem to form a perfect geometric shape, they aren't stacked or connected in the same way,” said scientist Rob Nelson, while speaking to Discovery UK.

“And while there is evidence that prehistoric tribes roam to the Great Lakes for thousands of years, very little is known about them,” he said, and added that he hasn’t seen anything “remotely resembling this formation in the archaeological record".

Also Read: Mystery of Stonehenge deepens as researchers say Altar Stone not from Orkney

Nelson connected to a man named Hank. This man's ancestors were the Anishinaabe people who were the first to inhabit the region.

Hank said that the prehistoric, hunter-gatherer forefathers of his tribe had settled in the area after the last Ice Age and kept those stones beneath the lake for a sacred purpose.

“[In Anishabe culture], we refer to stones as animate objects because they come from the mother, the Earth, who is alive,” he said and added that the presence of the monument in the lake is proof of the existence of his people.

Meanwhile, Holley said that the area had not submerged underwater 10,000 years ago and the people had settled on the spot where they had laid the stones.

“It would've been a wonderful place for people to live – near the coastline, close to resources, transportation's easy,” said the archaeologist, while speaking to Nelson.

(With inputs from agencies)

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Prisha

Prisha is a digital journalist at WION. With almost 10 years of experience in international journalism, she majorly covers political and trending stories. She also&n

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