ALPENA — The Central Michigan University Shipwreck Central class made a road trip to Alpena on Friday, April 5 to visit the Great Lakes Maritime Heritage Center.

They received an overview of the history and mission of Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary from Superintendent Jeff Gray, toured the exhibits and got to step into the conservation lab with State of Michigan Maritime Archaeologist Wayne Lusardi.

“Being able to bring them here gives them a core place that they can come and engage others. This experience tends to draw them back to learn more,” said Jay C. Martin, Ph.D., professor of history at Central Michigan University.

Many of them had never been to this part of the state, but said they were very interested in learning and engaging more with the shipwreck history. They also discussed, during a pizza lunch debrief, some things that draw their generation Z crowd to a destination like Alpena. Those items are festivals, camping, dining, museums, downtown, and outdoor experiences like snorkeling, kayaking and exploring the shipwrecks whether above, on or in the water.

One of the goals of Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary is to get as many people as possible near, in, on or even better, under the water to really get into and treasure their sanctuary.