Lake Michigan turned crystal clear turquoise in April 2015. A Coast Guard helicopter crew spotted something incredible on patrol. Complete century-old shipwrecks sat visible on the lake floor below them. The James McBride was a 121-foot brig that sank in 1857. It rested in 5 to 15 feet of water. Nearby, the Rising Sun wrecked in 1917 with all 32 aboard rescued. The lake holds an estimated 1,500 shipwrecks, and several remain unidentified.
Lake Michigan Got So Clear You Could See Shipwrecks
For a few weeks every spring, Lake Michigan turns a color nobody expects: turquoise, clear enough to see straight to the bottom. In April 2015, that rare window let a U.S. Coast Guard helicopter crew photograph something most people only picture in the Caribbean. Whole century-old shipwrecks were resting in the open, visible from hundreds of feet in the air.
A Once-a-Year Window of Clear Water
The crew, flying out of Coast Guard Air Station Traverse City, was on a routine patrol on April 17, 2015, when they noticed the water below near Sleeping Bear Point looked unusually clear.
The lake had just shed its winter ice, and the water was still a cold 38 degrees Fahrenheit, too cold yet for the algae blooms that normally cloud the surface later in the season.
Lt. Cmdr. Charlie Wilson, one of the pilots, said spotting old wrecks from the air is fairly common on patrols, but that day the crew saw an unusually high number of them at once.
The James McBride
Among the clearest images was the James McBride, a 121-foot brig that ran aground in a storm on October 19, 1857, while hauling wood back from Chicago.
It now rests in just 5 to 15 feet of water, close enough to the surface that its outline is visible even to boaters passing overhead on a calm day.
The Rising Sun
Nearby lay the wreck of the Rising Sun, a 133-foot wooden steamer that ran aground on the Pyramid Point shoal during a snowstorm on October 29, 1917.
The ship was carrying 32 passengers and crew home from a season of farm work on Summer Island when it went down.
Every one of them made it off alive.
The Rising Sun itself was never recovered and still sits in 6 to 12 feet of water.
How Many More Are Down There
The crew's photos, posted to the Air Station Traverse City Facebook page in an album nicknamed "Shipwreck Sunday," also showed several other wrecks that researchers have never been able to identify.
Lake Michigan is estimated to hold around 1,500 shipwrecks in total, and only a few hundred have ever been located and confirmed.
Most years, the window to see them from the air lasts only a few weeks before the water clouds over again.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why was Lake Michigan's water so clear in April 2015?
What is the James McBride shipwreck?
What happened to the Rising Sun shipwreck?
How many shipwrecks are in Lake Michigan?
Who took the 2015 photos of the Lake Michigan shipwrecks?
Verified Fact
Verified Jul 6, 2026 · 4 sources checked
Source: NPRShow verification details
Claims checked
- Lake Michigan turned crystal clear turquoise in April 2015
- Coast Guard helicopter crew spotted century-old shipwrecks on a routine patrol
- James McBride, a 121-foot brig that sank in 1857, rests in 5 to 15 feet of water
- Rising Sun wrecked in 1917; all 32 aboard rescued
- Lake Michigan holds an estimated 1,500 shipwrecks
Sources: NPR, Smithsonian Magazine, National Park Service, Newsweek