ST. MARYS RIVER

MARIE -- Canadian officials had to jump into rescue mode to save a distressed swimmer who jumped into the St. Marys River. According to the Sault Ste. Marie Police Service, the rescue occurred near the Sault Canal Lock around 7 p.m. on Thursday. One officer jumped into the water, with additional crews secured a safety rope to the officer and the nearby shoreline. A nearby bystander also jumped into the river to support officers in the rescue, and another threw a life preserver into the water, police said.

Snotty-looking globs of invasive algae mats found in the Manistee River alarmed freshwater scientists and state environmental authorities who are now trying to figure out to what degree “rock snot” algae remain an ecological threat to Michigan rivers. So far, scientists learned “rock snot” algae outbreaks are far different than other sorts of algal blooms, and there is a suspected connection between the large blooms and climate change. Significant “rock snot” growths are easily found in the rapids part of the St. Marys River near the Soo Locks. There’s some potential evidence for this in in the St. Marys River,” Moerke said. Related articles:Sturgeon ‘touch tank,’ ecology lessons ready for summer visitors at freshwater centerCoast Guard to launch freshwater oil spill research in Michigan‘Rock snot’ algae, invasive mud snail found in Michigan waters‘Rock snot’ nuisance algae discovered in Michigan’s Lower Peninsula‘Rock snot’ algae discovery sparks survey of Michigan’s up north rivers

MARIE, MI – A no body contact advisory issued in the wake of an oil spill in the Upper Peninsula has been lifted. An estimated 5,300 gallons of gear oil spilled into the St. Marys River at the Algoma Steel mill in Sault Ste. The 74.5-mile river connects Lake Superior and Lake Huron and serves as a border between Michigan and Ontario, Canada. The U.S. Coast Guard and local officials from Michigan and Canada responded to the scene. Efforts were taken to mitigate the spill, but the oil was determined to be “not recoverable.”The oil persisted in the water until it biodegraded, officials said.

The region escaped an oil spill in April 2018 when a ship’s anchor struck and damaged the pipeline. Based on that rate, Line 5 transports in about 20 seconds the amount of oil that spilled last week into the St. Marys River. The risk to the Great Lakes – the largest surface freshwater resource on the planet – is not worth the financial benefits to the Canadian energy transportation giant, Kirkwood argued. The center will be housed in the Soo within the newly built LSSU Center for Freshwater Research and Education along the St. Marys River shoreline – across the river from where last week’s oil spill happened. The Great Lakes economy destroyed for years,” said Beth Wallace, Great Lakes campaigns manager for the nonprofit National Wildlife Federation.

MARIE, MI — Oil spilled from an Ontario steel mill into the waterway connecting Lake Superior and Lake Huron is “not recoverable,” said the U.S. Coast Guard. The estimated 5,300 gallons of gear oil spilled at the Algoma Steel mill in Sault Ste. Carlsgaard said response efforts are focused on the north end of Sugar Island, located on the eastern end of Sault Ste. Those workers are still actively responding to the oil spill, he said. Related articles:U.S. Coast Guard responding to 5,300-gallon oil spill in St. Marys RiverOil spill shuts down Soo Locks for 3 hoursCoast Guard to launch freshwater oil spill research in Michigan

An oil spill has closed shipping traffic on the St. Marys River between Ontario and Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, the U.S. Coast Guard said Thursday.

MARIE, MI – The Soo Locks were shutdown for about three hours on Thursday as officials worked to contain an oil spill in the St. Marys River. The Army Corps of Engineers, which operates the world-famous facility in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, said a few ships were delayed while the locks were closed between about noon and 3 p.m. The St. Marys River has since reopened to commercial traffic so ships shouldn’t have an issue getting though. Large Great Lakes freighters like the James R. Barker, Edgar B. Speer and CSL Assiniboine were in the area of the locks, according to MarineTraffic.comThe U.S. Coast Guard is responding to the 5,300-gallon spill, which originated from Algoma Steel in Sault Ste. Initial Coast Guard estimates show a sheen that covers an area from the steel mill to the north side of Sugar Island.

MARIE, MI – A pair of 20-something lake sturgeons in a “touch tank” are ready to greet summer visitors to a new freshwater science center at Lake Superior State University. They are living fossils swimming in the public freshwater education space along the St. Marys River waterfront in Sault Ste. Marie, where visitors can reach their hands into the tank and touch the iconic freshwater fish revered across the Great Lakes watershed. The educational displays also include details about the history of the Native Anishinaabe people of the Great Lakes. It contains world-class scientific laboratories and equipment, where both college and K-12 students will learn about Great Lakes topics.

The DNR is letting anglers know to get their fishing gear ready as several season openers are approaching.

MARIE, MI — A long-delayed effort to reconfigure and expand the Soo Locks complex to accommodate the largest Great Lakes ships is receiving enough funding from the bipartisan infrastructure law to complete the project. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will receive $479 million from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which will be used over several years to build a new shipping lock that will enable the “1,000-footer” sized ships to move between Lake Superior and Lake Huron via the St. Marys River.

MARIE, ON — The freighter Mississagi made its final voyage this week up Lake Huron to a scrapyard in Canada, where she’ll be cut up and recycled after a 78-year career hauling bulk cargo around the Great Lakes. Boatwatchers converged on the St. Clair River and St. Marys River this week as the Mississagi departed under tow from Sarnia, Ont. The Mississagi was among the last ships of its era on the Great Lakes. “She was a busy boat right up to the end,” said Roger LeLievre, editor and publisher of the annual “Know Your Ships” guide to Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Seaway boat-watching. She was renamed for the Mississagi Strait in northern Lake Huron after being sold in 2001 to Lower Lakes Towing of Port Dover, Ont.