ALPENA — A different maritime environment will be the focus of the Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary lecture “If These Waters Could Talk.”

The lecture takes place at 7 p.m. (doors open at 6:30 p.m.), Thursday at the Great Lakes Maritime Heritage Center, 500 W. Fletcher St. in Alpena.

“We’re looking forward to bringing in other maritime professionals to share stories and Great Lakes research,” said Sanctuary Media Outreach Coordinator Stephanie Gandulla.

Daniel Harrison said he will discuss the delta of the St. Clair River during the 19th century.

“It’s a different environment from Thunder Bay. Where I’m studying is very different than the blue, waters of the Sanctuary. On the St. Clair River the ships wrecked in shallow waters in winding channels,” he said.

He had utilized the Sanctuary research collection at the Alpena County Library and that’s how the sanctuary and Daniel Harrison connected.

Harrison is a doctoral student in Anthropology at Wayne State University, and a reference librarian at Henry Ford College in Dearborn. His 2012 Wayne State Anthropology Masters project led to the listing of a submerged road from the War of 1812 on the National Register of Historic Places, and its inclusion in 2014 as a unit of the River Raisin National Battlefield Park.

“I will discuss how the 19th century had an enormous cascade of changes, transformations as the industrial revolution occurred, Westward Movement, the Civil War. What we’re looking for is how it plays out in the archeological record. Why they were doing it, how they were doing it and what happens when they fail, when ships go down,” he said.

Gandulla said any research on other Michigan bodies of water is welcome, since this lecture focuses on the same time period as many of the Sanctuary shipwrecks.

“We then asked if he would come and share his research with our audience, that’s how it came about. We’re just trying to keep our lecture series varied and diverse,” she said.

This is part of an ongoing free lecture series from the Sanctuary.

Jordan Spence can be reached via email at jspence@thealpenanews.com or by phone at 358-5687.

What: Lecture “If These Waters Could Talk”

Where: Maritime Heritage Center, 500 W. Fletcher

When: June 28 at 7 p.m.