--- title: Lake Michigan Clear Enough to See Shipwrecks: Aerial Photo description: See aerial images taken by the Coast Guard canonical: https://time.com/3838362/lake-michigan-shipwreck-photos/ author: Samantha Grossman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-04-28T17:59:07.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T04:47:41.386Z og:title: Lake Michigan Is So Clear That You Can See Shipwrecks In These Photos og:description: See aerial images taken by the Coast Guard og:url: https://time.com/3838362/lake-michigan-shipwreck-photos/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7bb7d96fe5a83f12/6987ed382dce01083b9e1885/lake-michigan-shipwreck.jpg?branch=production&width=1080&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: This shipwreck photo released by the U.S. Coast Guard was taken April 17, 2015, in northern Lake Michigan, near Leland, Mich., off the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Lake Michigan Is So Clear That You Can See Shipwrecks In These Photos twitter:description: See aerial images taken by the Coast Guard twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7bb7d96fe5a83f12/6987ed382dce01083b9e1885/lake-michigan-shipwreck.jpg?branch=production&width=1080&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Lake Michigan Is So Clear That You Can See Shipwrecks In These Photos by [Samantha Grossman](https://time.com/author/samantha-grossman/) ## Samantha Grossman Apr 28, 2015 5:59 PM UTC  This shipwreck photo released by the U.S. Coast Guard was taken April 17, 2015, in northern Lake Michigan, near Leland, Mich., off the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. This shipwreck photo released by the U.S. Coast Guard was taken April 17, 2015, in northern Lake Michigan, near Leland, Mich., off the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore.Petty Officer Mitch Brown—AP by [Samantha Grossman](https://time.com/author/samantha-grossman/) ## Samantha Grossman Apr 28, 2015 5:59 PM UTC Now that the ice on Lake Michigan’s surface has finally melted, the water is crystal clear — so clear you can see straight down to the bottom in some parts. During a recent routine patrol, a Coast Guard crew snapped some aerial photos of several shipwreck sites, like the particularly striking one above. The U.S. Coast Guard Air Station in Traverse City shared a few of the images on [its Facebook page](https://www.facebook.com/AIRSTATVC/posts/451782714988399), asking people to post information if they recognized any of the sites. The photos were taken near Sleeping Bear Point, off the northwestern coast of Michigan. According to the Coast Guard, the image above shows the wreckage of a 133-foot-long wooden steamer called Rising Sun, which went down in 1917. Another photo shows the 121-foot brig James McBride, which ran aground during a storm in 1857:  This shipwreck photo released by the U.S. Coast Guard was taken April 17, 2015, in northern Lake Michigan, near Leland, Mich., off the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. 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