Lake Superior (known as Gichigami, or ‘big lake’ in Ojibwe) is the largest freshwater lake in the world by surface area and the third largest by volume, holding 10% of the world's surface fresh water. The lake straddles 150 miles of Minnesota’s northeastern border, with its most western edge ending along the city twin ports of Duluth, Minnesota and Superior, Wisconsin.
January 28, 2010 - MPR’s Bob Kelleher reports that a deadly fish disease has been confirmed in Lake Superior. Researchers have identified the disease known as VHS in fish taken from four places in the lake, including the Duluth-Superior Harbor. It is not known yet if that means fish populations are at risk in the big lake.
July 29, 2010 - MPR’s Bob Kelleher reports on the Duluth’s Tall Ships Festival, where massive crowds of boat watchers are expected. Nine sailing ships will be on display in the harbor for the four-day event.
August 12, 2010 - MPR’s Bob Kelleher reports from the shore of Lake Superior, where the water has reached record high temperatures during the summer of 2010. Kelleher talks with officials on what is causing the warm water and its potential impact.
August 23, 2010 - One of the iconic images of Lake Superior's North Shore is no more. MPR’s Bob Kelleher reports that a rock bridge known as a sea arch on the shoreline in Tettegouche State Park has collapsed, leaving behind a tree-covered stone pillar isolated in the lake.
September 16, 2010 - Morning Edition’s Cathy Wurzer talks with Mike Link, as he and Kate Crowley near their completion of walking the shoreline of Lake Superior. The Minnesota couple spent five months traversing the nearly 1,600 miles of the lake’s shoreline, which ends as they near Canal Park in Duluth. They will be the first people in recorded history to accomplish that feat.
November 8, 2010 - MPR’s Stephanie Hemphill looks into a microscopic organism in Lake Superior that lives peacefully on the rocky shore. But this same algae is causing big problems in some other streams around the world, notably in New Zealand and New England. It's a bit of a mystery that a handful of scientists are racing to solve.
June 1, 2011 - MPR’s Euan Kerr visits the shoreline of Lake Superior to interview Duluth-based author Danielle Sosin about her book "The Long-Shining Waters." The novel intertwines the stories of three women living next to the big lake at different times in history. The highly praised book took Sosin eight years to complete.
August 7, 2012 - MPR’s Dan Kraker reports on researchers who are aiming to tap the wealth of information deep inside Lake Superior by sending two mechanical divers into the depths of the big, cold lake for a long period of time.
November 13, 2012 - MPR’s Dan Kraker visits Grand Marais, as lake herring season on Lake Superior crests. For about six weeks every October and November, thousands of the silvery fish, also called cisco, are pulled from the Lake's icy waters. The harvest supports a small but thriving fishing industry along the North Shore that caters to the growing market for local and sustainable food.
December 30, 2012 - Morning Edition’s Cathy Wurzer interviews Annette Atkins, history professor at the College of St. Benedict and St. John's University, who provides a history primer of the Split Rock Lighthouse.