Why would the addition of flying fish endanger the Great Lakes? Well flying fish, specifically the Asian carp, are not native to the Lakes and would cause ecology shifts and predicaments, should they keep migrating from the Illinois River. This possible danger would first impede Lake Michigan. Since Lake Michigan is connected to Lake Superior, the entire Lake system is then threatened. If flying fish reach Minnesota, they will spawn rapidly, creating a whole new fish population. This type of fish has already been spotted several times in the surrounding areas. Flying fish live on plankton, as do the other small fish of the Great Lakes. Adding an entirely new species disrupts the circle of life. More fish means less food for the already inhabiting species. Local politicians are currently working to keep the Asian carp out of Great Lake waters.

Just like America was discovered by Columbus—though American Indians already inhabited the area—someone also discovered the Great Lakes. Technically it is unknown who really was first to mark claim to these lakes. Even today neither Canada nor America have sole claims to the lakes. The first known voyage towards the lakes was made in the summer of 1679. René Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle commissioned the Le Griffon and sailed towards the upper lakes in early August from the Niagara River.

Over the next two centuries the area was inhabited by the western civilization. At this time the lakes became the means of transporting freight from one place to the other. Thanks to the Great Lakes middle Northern America could transport goods to the Atlantic more easily. This was increased even more in 1825 when the Erie Canal opened. Two decades later Illinois was opened with the Michigan and Illinois Canal at Chicago. This linked the lakes to the Mississippi River, creating an unbroken route from New Orleans to New York. Throughout the nineteenth century the lakes also serves as immigrant transportation from one city to another as they moved with the freight. When trains became more popular, ferries were instead used to transport people short distances rather than long journeys.

Immigrants of certain ethnicities continue to make this trip, namely those of German, Dutch, Finish, and Polish descent. In today’s economy trucks and railroads transport freight more often than via the Great Lakes. Certain industries, however, still rely on the lakes, such as coal, iron ore, steel, grain, and limestone. The communities around the lakes have even come up with specific lingo for the traveling freight ships. Ships are always called boats on the Great Lakes, even if they are vast in size. Steamships are steamboats, like those of the Mississippi. Ships that trade mostly on the lakes are called lakers, while foreign boats are called salties.

Since the waves of the Great Lakes are often not conducive to surfing, many have taken up surfing’s close relative: skimboarding. Skimboarding was first created in the 1920s. It is designed for gliding across shallow waters or very wet sand. Boarders begin on land and moving on through low tides. The key to skimboarding is momentum. Momentum will help boarders break through waves, similar to surfacing. To get started a boarder will run towards a board positioned on the sand. The momentum he or she provides will push the board through the wet sand and into the water. Skimboarders most often do not reach deep waters because their boards are not equipped for the heavy waves.

Skimboards are much smaller than surfboards, normally coming up to the boarder’s torso and not past the shoulder. These boards are also relatively thin, ranging from 3/8 inch to one inch in thickness. They are also fairly light in weight. Unlike surfboards, skimboards have a rocking nose on one end. These come in various types: constant, hybrid, and traditional. The skill and advancement of a boarder most often will dictate the type of rocker chosen.

There are different types of skimboarding. The type that is performed at the Great Lakes is flatland skimboarding. This kind of boarding includes tricks of various degrees, including ollies and catching shore breaks. Competitions are held around the world to compete in tricks.

Skimboarding is not without dangers. Dislocations, twisted ankles, and fractures of the legs are common. Muscle injuries, shin splints, tarsal injuries, and bruising are also regular occurrences. Crashing into objects and other boarders can be problematic and lead to injuries. The Great Lakes are not the only common flatland skimboarding areas in North America. Other locations include British Columbia, New Jersey, Texas, Florida, and Utah.

Nearly every tourist attraction has some form of tour. The Great Lakes are no exception. The Great Lakes Circle Tour is broken into four individual tours that circle around Lake Superior, Lake Michigan, Lake Erie, and Lake Huron. This tour was first created in 1985 by the Departments of Transportation in Michigan, Wisconsin, and Ontario. The tour was established in the spring of 1986, beginning around Lake Superior. The Great Lakes Circle Tour officially reached approval by the Great Lakes Commission in the fall of 1988.

The Great Lakes Circle Tour is a scenic route that connects the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence River with a road system. Each of the lakes have their own systems, though they are all connected in some way. The Lake Superior Circle Tour circles around the lake on state highways in the United States and provincial highways in Canada. This route includes driving through Ontario, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota.

The Lake Michigan Circle Tour circles around the lake and on through Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, and Michigan. A special portion of the Michigan tour includes the ferry SS Badger that passes between Mantiowoc, Wisconsin and Ludington, Michigan. The Lake Huron Circle Tour is a clockwise circle that begins at Blue Water Bridge of Port Huron, Michigan and Sarnia, Ontario. It progresses on through Michigan and Ontario. The Lake Erie Circle Tour loops along provincial and state highways along though Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, and Ontario.

The United States has one lake that is entirely within its boundaries. Canada only comes close. Lake Ontario is mostly dotted by Canadian cities, with the exception of the New York city of Rochester. Lake Ontario has the smallest surface area of all the Great Lakes, standing at only 7,540 square miles. It is the second smallest in relation to water volume with 393 cubic miles, falling just behind Lake Erie. Lake Ontario also has the lowest elevation of all the lakes at 246 feet. The average depth of this lake is 283 feet.

Many important and large cities dot the coast of Lake Ontario. These include several that lie within the Canadian province of Ontario: Hamilton, Kingston, Mississauga, Oshawa, Toronto, and Pickering. The largest United States city on the Lake Ontario coast is Rochester, New York. Similar to the question of which came first the chicken or the egg, many question which name came first: the province or the lake.

Throughout history Lake Ontario was named various French phrases before the name Ontario was decided. Ontario means “lake of shining waters” in the Huron Indian Wyandot language. In the seventeenth century Lake Ontario was named Lake St. Louis or Lac de St. Louis after the French king Louis XIV. During the same century a French history named it Lacus Ontarius ou des Iroquois. The Iroquois nation called Lake Ontario “Skanadario.” Through all this history the province Ontario was named after the lake itself, meaning the lake’s name came before the province’s name.

Lake Ontario is the eastern-most of the Great Lakes and is the outlet of the lakes’ water flow to the Atlantic Ocean through the St. Lawrence River. Lake Ontario’s main water source is the Niagara River that drains from Lake Erie. Almost all the islands in this lake are in the eastern and northeastern section of the lake and stand between Prince Edward County and Kingston. Because Lake Ontario is so deep it almost never freezes over completely. Instead between ten and ninety percent of the lake freezes in the winter months.

Lake Erie is the shallowest of the five Great Lakes and has the smallest surface area of nearly ten thousand square miles. This lake is also the thirteen largest lake in the world. As the southernmost lake some of the largest, well-known cities in the United States happen to dot Lake Erie’s coast, including Buffalo, New York; Cleveland, Ohio; Erie, Pennsylvania; and Toledo, Ohio. The islands of this lake are mostly located on the western side and include thirty-one separate islands. Lake Erie gained its name from the Iroquois Erie Indian tribe that inhabited the area on the southern shore.

The outflow of Lake Erie produces hydroelectric power to both the United States and Canada through Niagara Fall’s large turbines.

The climate of Lake Erie is colder than the other four lakes. Because it is shallower it tends to freeze over completely. It is also named Canada’s thunderstorm capital. Lake Erie has a lake retention under three years and is fed by the Detroit River. The Niagara River empties this lake into Lake Ontario. The lake-effect that comes off of Lake Erie makes both Erie and Buffalo the thirteenth and eleventh snowiest areas in the United States.

Even though commercial fishing is not allowed, sport fishing is common on both the Canadian and American sides. Given that Lake Erie often freezes over ice fishing is also prominent. Some fishermen even build bonfires right on the ice. Of course this “little” lake does not come without its stories. The Lake Erie Monster has no confirmed reported sightings, though it is a black monster rumored to be thirty-five feet long.