‘Erie’ facts about the Great Lakes that will make you shudder

Lake Superior waters are cold enough to preserve dead bodies because the bacteria necessary for decomposition cannot live in such bone-chilling temperatures, says Dr. Robert Michael McKay from the Great Lakes institute for environmental research at the University of Windsor. It turns out Gordon Lightfoot was right when he sang, "Lake Superior doesn’t give up her dead.” So, what would happen if the lake’s temperatures rise? “Well, while the first 20 to 30 metres are warm in the summer, it’s not enough to reach the lake’s depth of 400 metres, McKay says. “There’s no chance of seeing dead bodies surface in our lifetime.” Phew! Resume your swimming and boat activities as per usual, folks.

We know to avoid blue-green algae, but what about the life-threatening bacteria we can’t see? McKay says that the Very Fast Death Factor infests our Great Lakes and ponds and is harmful to the brain and liver. “Avoid it by watching out for swim advisories and keeping away from the beach after a storm,” he says.

Lake Erie has an annual dead zone between Point Pelee and Long Point. This happens, McKay says, because of temperature differences in the water, which starts the decomposition of bacteria process, depleting the oxygen supply and forcing fish to leave. These conditions harm other creatures like the mayfly, which have seen an overall population decline, according to a Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences study.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, creator of Sherlock Holmes, visited the Silver Islet mine on Lake Superior in the early 1900s. According to Lake Superior Magazine, he and fellow spiritualists ventured there to connect with the ghost of a man who had died in the mine. During a séance, the group reported hearing strange noises and the sensation of cold hands grasping them.

Think your eyes are playing tricks on you? Well, they probably are. There is an atmospheric phenomenon known as Saint Elmo’s fire, or witch's fire, that appears as a blur of light on the ends of pointed objects such as ships or buildings. The light is caused by electrical discharges and can sometimes be accompanied by crackling sounds.

In 1969, a New York Times article, America’s Sewage System and the Price of Optimism described the Cuyahoga River, which flows into Lake Erie, as having “no visible life. Some river! Chocolate-brown, oily, bubbling with subsurface gases, oozes rather than flows.” It was atrocious then, but McKay remarks that there was a silver lining. After the river caught on fire from chemical and sewage pollution, scientists and politicians were so disgusted that it led to pollution control laws.

The Stannard Rock Lighthouse was built in 1882 on a reef and sits in the middle of Lake Superior, 39 kilometres from shore. Due to its isolated location, it landed the nickname “The Loneliest Place in North America.” For over 140 years, it has played an important role in helping ships navigate the treacherous reef. Today it is an important hub for climate and weather research.