Great Lakes

The freighter sank in Lake Michigan on Nov. 18, 1958, during a treacherous storm that produced 65 mph winds and 25-foot waves.

The University of Toronto researcher, Chelsea Rochman, says the team is working to understand how microplastics change over time in the Great Lakes.

Monday marks 50 years since the tragedy, which saw the Fitzgerald sink to the bottom of Lake Superior with its 29 crew members.

Twenty-nine sailors drowned when the Edmund Fitzgerald went down in the Great Lakes' icy waters on Nov. 10, 1975. The ship was immortalized in a surprise hit 1976 folk ballad by Gordon Lightfoot.

"It's an honor to play his music," musician Mike Fornes said, who's been performing with a Gordon Lightfoot tribute band for years.

Ron Bloomfield of Central Michigan University and member of Michigan's Underwater Salvage and Preserve Committee discusses why the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald remains unexplored since the early 1990's.

One of Michigan's top shipwreck experts, Ric Mixter, says even though he explored the wreckage in the early 1990's, many questions remain unanswered.

There were 89 recorded waterspouts on the Great Lakes between Oct. 21-26, according to the National Weather Service.

Officials say the newly constructed freshwater reef off the coast of Channel Island will create spawning habitats for native fish species and foster resilience in their populations.

From the outside, US commercial shipping may look like an industry past its prime. The American fleet, called the US Merchant Marine, comprised 16% of the global commercial fleet in 1960. Now, it makes up less than half of a percent of commercial ships worldwide.