Bringing our skills to bear, Midwest Underwater Explorers undertakes projects that provide benefit to our broader community. From deploying environmental data logging systems to supporting nautical archaeology work with partners, MWUE members make meaningful contributions to better the world while pursuing their passion for diving.
The Great Lakes: Our Past, Our Future
Serving as highways for hundreds of years predating the founding of the United States, the Great Lakes were key in the development of the United States. Until containerization the Great Lakes Ports were the busiest by tonnage anywhere in the world. Today, they still serve to move raw materials, agriculture, and manufactured goods both throughout the region and to the world via the Seaway. This trade has brought with it invasive species and climate change, both of which are impacting the Lakes. With 21% of the worlds surface fresh water, the Great Lakes are a magnificent resource which will continue to provide prosperity to the region, though protecting the resource is key to the future.
Underwater Archeology Society of Chciago: Archeology Projects
MWUE Divers are active in helping to document the remains of shipwrecks in the Midwest in partnership with the Underwater Archaeological Society of Chicago. Great Lakes wrecks are windows into the past, preserved by cold fresh water.
The Great Lakes are facing many threats (zebra and quagga mussel infestation, for example) so MWUE has partnered with Project Baseline to document changes in our subaquatic environments. Beginning with our first site, Southern Lake Michigan, we are documenting visibility and temperature at stations on various eel-frequented shipwrecks. This includes semi-permanent temperature data loggers and citizen science stations where any diver can upload temperature and visibility information via a google form.
Our first environmental monitoring station was a temperature data logger deployed on the Louisville wreck from late 2023 to mid 2024 with data collected at depth every 15 minutes.
Our second, a citizen science station. was installed in July 2024 alongside the wreck of the SS Wells Burt off the coast of Evanston.
You can access our findings here.
Nautical Archaeology Society (UK): Big Anchor Project
The Big Anchor Project is a fun heritage recording initiative which aims to empower public volunteers in the recording of physical anchors around the world. MWUE Divers are active in documenting big anchors in the Midwest and beyond.
Access the big anchor database here.
