Shocking Facts About the Great Lakes you Never Knew

Hey, guess what! Nudge Printing has some amazing facts about the Great Lakes you’ve never heard before. Shock your friends, wow your enemies, impress your boss!!

#1 Kid Rock was once stranded on a floating dock out on Lake Superior for three days after his friends mistakenly left him behind.

#2 Tupac is actually alive and lives on Beaver Island.

#3 Farrah Fawcet’s signature hairstyle was inspired by the waves of Lake Michigan.

#4 Nine out of ten Private Investigators believe Jimmy Hoffa’s body is hidden within the cement work around the Mackinac Bridge.

#5 To be considered an official Michigan Craft Brew, Breweries must use actual water from one of the Great Lakes.

#6 A committee was once formed to demote Lake Ontario from a “Great Lake” to a “Good Lake” because it doesn’t actually touch Michigan.  

#7 Gilligan’s Island was originally scheduled to be filmed on Drummond Island. At the last minute they changed the location.

#8 When Tom Selleck was in 5th grade, he went swimming in Lake Huron off Port Austin.  A catfish latched onto his mustache and didn't let go until Tom had run to the shore!

#9 Jeff Daniels reports that he has often seen the Loch Michigan Monster when wading near Escanaba, but only in the moonlight.

#10 Tim Allen has never been able to travel to Mackinac Island because he is terrified of ferry boats.

If you thought ANY of these facts were actually true, you need a lesson on the Great Lakes. Luckily, we have a map for that! Our Great Lakes map design is available as a ridiculously soft and outrageously flattering t-shirt. Take the Great Lakes with you wherever you go. Study it yourself, or use it to school your friends. Either way, it’s a win-win.

Okay, we are serious now. Here are some real facts about the Great Lakes…

#11 Sharks have been discovered in all 5 of the great lakes.  Lake Superior is too cold for Tiger Sharks, but Hammerheads thrive there and are rumored to have sunk the Edmond Fitzgerald.

#12 The water in Lake Erie drains in a counter-clockwise rotation.

#13 The only fish willing to cross under the Mackinaw Bridge are carp, since they are not native to North America and don’t understand the danger.

#14 Lake Michigan lobsters taste sweeter than those from the other lakes, but they are not as large as those in Lake Ontario.

#15 Lake Huron was the lone Great Lake containing salt water until the invention of water softeners, after which salt mining in Oscoda stripped all the salt from the water of the unique and special Lake Huron.  If you stick your tongue in the sand along Lake Huron you can still taste remnants of the salt.

#16 If you stand on the shore of Lake Michigan during a west wind, you can smell cheese, compliments of our neighbors to the west, Wisconsin.

#17 There were no black flies in the Lower Peninsula until Mackinac Bridge was completed in 1957.  The flies walked over the extension bridge in order to reach the larger population of the Lower Peninsula.

#18 Grizzly bears have been seen swimming in both Lake Michigan and Lake Erie.  Polar bears have only been spotted in Lake Ontario.

#19 Canoes larger than 10 feet are not allowed on any of the Great Lakes on Saturdays during leap years.

#20 The Great Lakes are such significant waterways that during World War II, German submarines were stationed offshore from Ludington, Escanaba, Alpena, and Linwood.  Another NAZI sub ran out of fuel while waiting to go through the Soo Locks, and an Italian aircraft carrier ran aground off Saugatuck.

Just kidding! Those are all fake, too! Gosh, you need to get yourself a t-shirt!

by Carla Sawyers