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.
February 12, 2013 - MPR’s Dan Kraker profiles surfers on the icy waves of a wintery Lake Superior. Though it might seem impossible to many, a thriving scene has emerged on the beach where surfers brave the frigid water for waves they swear can compare to some of the best surfing in Hawaii or California.
November 20, 2013 - MPR’s Dan Kraker reports that after more than a decade of falling water levels, Lake Superior is on the upswing. For 14 years, water levels in Lake Superior, the world's largest freshwater lake, remained below their long-term average, the longest stretch of below-average levels in recorded history. The big lake reached its all-time low in 2007.
February 9, 2014 - The frigid winter has transformed the caves along the south shore of Lake Superior into a glittering icy playground. MPR’s Dan Kraker visits the Apostle Island Sea Caves, which have been overwhelmed by visitors as ice has been thick enough for hikers to safely reach the caves. Apostle Islands National Lakeshore Park officials have needed help to handle crowds.
April 15, 2014 - On this episode of Appetites, James Nortton, author of “Lake Superior Flavors: A Field Guide to Food and Drink Along the Circle Tour,” shares highlights of traveling around the big lake in search of regional foods.
August 21, 2015 - A tiny publisher in Duluth has released an anthology of poetry about Minnesota's biggest lake, titled “Amethyst and Agate: Poems of Lake Superior.” The collection from Holy Cow! Press celebrates the many moods of Lake Superior, and the powerful connection it has to the people who live near its vast shoreline.
December 2, 2015 - MPR’s Dan Kraker reports on the decline of lake herring, called cisco in Lake Superior. The fish typically aggregate in thick schools in the late fall when they swim to shore to spawn. But overfishing in parts of Superior regulated by Wisconsin, and a decline in fish survival, have caused cisco numbers on the Minnesota side of the lake to plummet, putting the lake's small but iconic commercial fishery in jeopardy.
June 21, 2016 - All Things Considered’s Tom Crann talks with MPR Duluth reporter Dan Kraker about Great Lakes Compact approval of plan that allows the city of Waukesha, Wisconsin to pump 8.2 million gallons of water a day from Lake Michigan.
August 5, 2016 - MPR’s Dan Kraker profiles Duluth's five lift bridge operators and their very unique work window view. The Duluth Aerial Lift Bridge span goes up and down about 4,500 times every year, 24 hours a day, seven days a week during the Great Lakes shipping season that runs from March to January.
September 9, 2016 - MPR’s Dan Kraker investigates the warming waters of Lake Superior. In late August 2016, the average surface water temperature for the entire lake hit 68 and a half degrees (the second highest ever recorded). In Lake Superior, researchers at the University of Minnesota Duluth have found that summer surface water temperatures have increased by 5 degrees over the past 30 years.
September 14, 2016 - On this MPR News with Tom Weber program, Ken Merryman discusses hunting for shipwrecks in the Great Lakes. Merryman and others discovered the Antelope, a Great Lakes steamship, that sank in Lake Superior in 1897.