Editing Lake Superior (section)

===Shipwrecks===
{{See also|Great Storms of the North American Great Lakes|List of shipwrecks of Isle Royale|Whitefish Point Underwater Preserve|List of shipwrecks of western Lake Superior}}

The southern shore of Lake Superior between [[Grand Marais, Michigan]], and [[Whitefish Point Light|Whitefish Point]] is known as the "[[Graveyard of the Great Lakes]]"; more ships have been lost around the Whitefish Point area than any other part of Lake Superior.<ref>{{cite book |last = Stonehouse |first = Frederick |orig-year = 1985 |year = 1998 |title = Lake Superior's Shipwreck Coast |page = 267 |publisher = Avery Color Studios |location = Gwinn, Michigan |isbn = 0-932212-43-3 }}</ref> These shipwrecks are now protected by the [[Whitefish Point Underwater Preserve]]. Storms that claimed multiple ships include the [[Mataafa Storm]] in November 1905 and the [[Great Lakes Storm of 1913]].

Wreckage of {{SS|Cyprus}}—a {{convert|420|ft|adj=on}} ore carrier that sank on October 11, 1907, during a Lake Superior storm in 77 fathoms ({{convert|460|ft|m|abbr=on|disp=or}}) of water—was located in August 2007. Built in [[Lorain, Ohio]], ''Cyprus'' was launched August 17, 1907, and was lost on her second voyage hauling iron ore from Superior, Wisconsin, to Buffalo, New York, with the sole survivor among her 23 crew being Charles G. Pitz.<ref>{{cite news |url = https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna20679934 |publisher = NBC News |title = Century-Old Shipwreck Discovered: Ore Carrier Went Down in Lake Superior on Its Second Voyage |agency = Associated Press |date = September 10, 2007 }}</ref> In 1918 the last warships to sink in the Great Lakes, [[French minesweepers Inkerman and Cerisoles|French minesweepers ''Inkerman'' and ''Cerisoles'']], vanished in a Lake Superior storm, perhaps upon striking the uncharted danger of the [[Superior Shoal]] in an otherwise deep part of the lake. With 78 crewmembers dead, their sinking marked the largest loss of life on Lake Superior to date.

{{SS|Edmund Fitzgerald}} is the last ship that sank in Lake Superior, {{convert|15|nmi|km mi|lk=in}} from Whitefish Point in a storm on November 10, 1975. The wreck was immortalized by [[Gordon Lightfoot]] in his ballad [[The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald|"The Wreck of the ''Edmund Fitzgerald''"]]. All 29 crew members died, and no bodies were recovered. ''Edmund Fitzgerald'' was battered so intensely by Lake Superior that the {{convert|729|ft|m|adj=on}} ship split in half; her two pieces lie approximately {{convert|170|ft|m}} apart at a depth of 88 fathoms ({{convert|530|ft|m|disp=or|abbr=on}}).

Lightfoot sings that "The lake, it is said, never gives up her dead".<ref>{{cite book |last = Kohl |first = Cris |year = 1998 |title = The 100 Best Great Lakes Shipwrecks |volume = II |page = 430 |publisher = Seawolf Communications |isbn = 0-9681437-3-3 }}</ref> This is because of the unusually cold water, under {{convert|36|°F}} on average around 1970.<ref name="derecki1980" /> Normally, bacteria decaying a sunken body will bloat it with gas, causing it to float to the surface after a few days. But Lake Superior's water is cold enough year-round to inhibit [[bacterial growth]], and bodies tend to sink and never resurface.<ref>{{harvp|Chisholm|Gutsche|1998|p= xxxiv}}.</ref> [[Joseph B. MacInnis|Joe MacInnis]] reported that in July 1994, explorer Frederick Shannon's Expedition 94 to the wreck of ''Edmund Fitzgerald'' discovered a man's body near the port side of her pilothouse, not far from the open door, "fully clothed, wearing an orange life jacket, and lying face down in the sediment".<ref>{{cite book |last = MacInnis |first = Joseph |author-link = Joseph B. MacInnis |year = 1998 |title = Fitzgerald's Storm: The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald |page = 101 |publisher = Thunder Bay Press |location = Berkeley, California |isbn = 1-882376-53-6 }}</ref>

In February 2024, it was announced that wreckage from the ''Arlington'' was discovered from a sinking in 1940.<ref>{{cite web|title=Shipwreck hunters stunned by discovery at bottom of world's largest freshwater lake|website=[[Independent.co.uk]] |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/lake-superior-shipwreck-arlington-found-b2495846.html|access-date=14 February 2024}}</ref>