Have You Seen The Strange Device Now On The Grand Haven Pier?

Even though Grand Haven State Park has closed down the swimming operations for the season, that hasn't stopped Lake Michigan from being the beast it can be. Last week, Grand Haven's pier faced some of the largest waves the beach has ever seen. On October 19th, waves reached as high as 17 feet, dwarfing the lighthouse.

Possibly spurred on by these dramatic waves, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers installed new equipment at the beginning of the pier to track wave activity on the lakeshore.

Grand Haven Pier's New Tech

The Grand Haven Department of Public Safety (GHDPS) posted on Facebook, showcasing the new tech and clarifying that it was "not alien technology," but rather new wave-measuring equipment that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will use to collect information on wave activity. It will be on the pier temporarily, but the GHDPS did not specify a time frame.

The largest recorded wave on the Lake Michigan lakeshore was also in Grand Haven, way back in 1929. A meteotsunami in Grand Haven reached 20 feet and killed 10 people. While the Great Lakes aren't necessarily the places you'd think of for dangerous water and intense waves, sailors would be among the first to dissuade that notion.

A reported 1,500 ships have met a watery grave in Lake Michigan alone, proving that these waters aren't always "great." It isn't known why the Army has started collecting wave activity data, but given how rainy and windy it has been lately, they're certainly getting plenty of data.