“Today we can officially declare that we have a National Marine Sanctuary right off the shores of Wisconsin.”
Those were the words of Manitowoc Mayor Justin Nickels, as he voiced his excitement on the Sub Pub deck of the Wisconsin Maritime Museum that as of Saturday, the Wisconsin Shipwreck Coast National Marine Sanctuary is officially in place.
Nickels was joined by Governor Tony Evers, who spoke about the educational significance of this sanctuary, and Senator Tammy Baldwin, who was a huge supporter of the Sanctuary in Washington, specifically with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
“And I have been proud to work with them and advocate for both resources and the designation with our federal government to make sure that everyone understood just how remarkable this part of Lake Michigan truly is,” Baldwin said. “And now, I’m proud to say we got the job done!”
NOAA Administrator Dr. Rick Spinrad was also on hand, and he spoke about the history of the Marine Sanctuary program.
Dr. Spinrad explained that it was created nearly 50 years ago, and has since created, as he termed it, “…a series of underwater parks, just like our national park service.”
He went on to say, “Today I am happy to welcome the newest addition to the National Marine Sanctuary System, our National 15th Sanctuary, and the second sanctuary in the Great Lakes, the Wisconsin Shipwreck Coast National Marine Sanctuary.”
We spoke with Cathy Green, the Executive Director of the Wisconsin Maritime Museum, who said that in honor of the designation, they have expanded their shipwreck exhibit.
“We just added a bunch of pieces to that, and the pieces are salvaged artifacts,” Green explained. “This is something we are incredibly excited about with the Sanctuary, and the national attention this has, we want to be able to tell these shipwreck stories to folks. If you can’t go out and dive on these things, come here.”
The Wisconsin Shipwreck Coast National Marine Sanctuary runs from Two Rivers down to Port Washington and encompasses 36 shipwrecks.
