What Did Researchers Find at the Bottom of Lake Superior?

The Great Lakes are unique bodies of water, and one in particular stands out as the most intriguing to researchers. Lake Superior is the biggest, deepest, and coldest of them all; because of this, it is also the most mysterious, with one researcher stating that the "knowledge of this lake bottom is very low." (no pun intended)

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So, researchers recently took a big step in exploring this deep lake by venturing to a place that has only been explored once before: the deepest point of Lake Superior. Utilizing a water robot, they boldly descended to where no man has gone before (technically) to learn more, 1,300 feet underwater.

Great Lakes Now and Inspired Planet via YouTube

This exploration is for a new documentary Zack Melnick is creating called Hidden Below: The Great Lakes, and was livestreamed by Detroit PBS and Great Lakes Now. Here's what they found across their one-hour and 20-minute livestream.

Lake Superior Exploration Livestream

On June 7th, Great Lakes Now and Inspired Planet hosted a livestream with researchers as they controlled a water robot, dubbed Kiyi after one of the fish the team hoped to see, descended to the deepest point of Lake Superior, Superior Maximus. It took about 12 minutes for the robot to reach the surface.

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It was the first time in over 40 years that human eyes had seen this part of the lake, the last dive having taken place in 1985, when a submersible plunged. During the livestream, many fascinating questions were answered, which you can check out for yourself below.

There were four goals of the trip:

The kiyi, a rare deepwater fish that is believed to live only in Lake Superior.
Alien-looking deepwater sculpin, a bottom-dwelling creature
Forests of colorful hydra
The deepwater-adapted siscowet lake trout

One of the biggest questions was whether the team would discover a time capsule somewhere on the bottom of the Superior Maximus. It was dropped there on the last exploration; however, its exact position is unknown, which could make things difficult when 2037 comes around, and it's set to be opened. It was not found, however, but will be someday. You can read what is inside this time capsule here, including the letter inside.

What The Great Lakes Now Team Found On Stream

The first thing they found: a rock. But quickly after, they found many of the sculpin they were looking for. Throughout the trip, many tiny plankton were observed avoiding the robot, and a surprising number of rocks were found, which researchers used to disprove the idea that the lake bottom is just muddy.

Then, at 31:00, they found the hydra plant the team was searching for, and at 51:00, they found a large piece of wood.

One of the most curious discoveries came later in the stream, when the team found a man-made item: a beer can, over 1000 feet below the surface. It's rather depressing to see that not even the deepest parts of the Great Lakes have managed to avoid pollution. Thankfully, the team said they do not encounter much garbage.

But even here, the team discussed how this could have become part of an ecosystem surrounded by hydra and more.

These were the most significant finds while the stream was live, but they were only a sliver of the time the crew spent exploring the surface. You can review a full breakdown of the dive on Canadian Geographic.

Barge 129 Shipwreck Discovered in Lake Superior After 120 Years

Barge 129 went down in Lake Superior off the coast of Michigan's Upper Peninsula during a powerful storm Oct. 13, 1902.

Nearly 120 years later, the Great Lakes Historical Society discovered the sunken, 292-foot, Whaleback using Side Scan Sonar. The wreck was found 35 miles off Vermilion Point in 650 feet of water.

Gallery Credit: Janna