Who knew it could be so exciting to go jump in a lake?

News Lifestyles editor Darby Hinkley recently reported that the National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science had developed a digital atlas of the Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary.

The atlas allows archaeologists, biologists, coastal and fisheries managers, and others to mark places on the lakebed they think should take priority in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s mapping efforts.

“It makes it so all these different researchers don’t have to go it alone,” marine biologist Matthew S. Kendall was quoted as saying in Hinkley’s story. “They can now identify potential partnerships and really save a lot of money and get a lot more done.”

Only about 4% of the Great Lakes has been mapped, Hinkley reported, including 16% of the Thunder Bay sanctuary.

Mapping, which can be improved with the collaboration fostered by the new atlas, helps researchers find everything from shipwrecks to environmentally important ecosystems on the lake’s bottom.

What a cool project, and a fantastic resource for the sanctuary, which is fast becoming one of Northeast Michigan’s most important resources.

Good work to all involved.

We can’t wait to see what you come up with next.

(THE ALPENA NEWS)