Michigan's Underwater Paradise

 

The following article appeared in the Ludington Daily News on 7/19/2022. 

Ludington a snorkeling hotspot? Someday, group hopes

• By JUSTIN COOPER Daily News Staff Writer

Could these waters one day be dotted with snorkelers? A small but international group aims to bring freshwater snorkeling into the mainstream, with a particular focus on the Ludington area. One member, Martin Ruiz, described snorkeling the Big Sable River, as "the most wonderful experience that you can have."

The Ludington area has no shortage of outdoor activities to engage in. But someday, snorkeling could make its way onto that list.

A small but global group is imagining the city as an international destination for freshwater snorkeling, which they see as an untapped opportunity in outdoor recreation.

It’s all in the very early stages, and some of those involved aren’t even sure if it will involve a formal organization, a physical location or simply a website.

But at the heart of it is a belief that peeking under the fresh waters of the world is an overlooked but rich way of connecting with nature.

“Anyone who’s ever been on vacation to Florida or Hawaii … they all (snorkel) on vacation, and they all have a good time,” said freshwater photographer Eric Engbretson.

“I think people just don’t realize that we have these opportunities right here in our local lakes. … We’d just like to see it become more mainstream.”

Engbretson is part of the snorkeling enthusiast group trying to push its hobby — and Ludington’s opportunities for it — into the public eye.

Their plan could tack one more outdoor sport to the long list of them the Ludington area is known for.

But for them, it’s also a way of honoring a fellow freshwater explorer, whose favorite spot was right here in Ludington State Park.

‘The best place in the entire world’

The glue binding the group together is their admiration for Nancy Washburne, a Michigan woman whose underwater films attracted an online community of like-minded snorkelers before her death in January this year.

“She was so involved” in showing people “the incredible treasure that they have just below the surface of all these lakes and rivers all over the world,” said her husband, Martin Ruiz.

In her 60s, Washburne spent three years snorkeling nearly 500 of Michigan’s inland lakes, traveling solo in what Ruiz called “a clunker.”

Along the way, the former travel agent discovered Ludington was “the No. 1 location for snorkeling in Michigan, without any doubts — and No. 1 by far,” according to Ruiz.

“When she found the (Big) Sable River for the first time … she called me that night, and she said, you are not going to believe this. I just found the best place in the entire world,” Ruiz said.

He said the two of them returned to snorkel the river, which drains Hamlin Lake into Lake Michigan, for 15 consecutive summers.

With shallow water, no boat traffic and “hundreds” of colorful fish schooling by the riverbanks, he said it’s “the most wonderful experience that you can have.”

“It is nature at its best, and it’s always full of surprises,” he said, adding that “it’s very easy” and “free, basically.”

It’s in honor of Washburne and her favorite snorkeling spot that her husband and followers have zeroed in on Ludington as the focal point of their efforts to promote the sport.

Once the group has its ideas firmed up, Ruiz hopes to get state agencies involved in advancing Michigan, and Ludington in particular, as the “headquarters for the global alliance of freshwater discovery.”

The whole point is “to create an ecotourism industry,” he said, adding that just as Michigan draws snowmobilers in the wintertime, the Great Lakes could be a regional magnet for summertime snorkeling.

“That represents millions of dollars when you start getting this at the level it should be,” he said.

‘Oh, it’s so cool’

Mary Larson, a “big” Washburne fan from Indiana, said she started out as a hiker who “didn’t even think to look underwater.”

But she found inspiration in Washburne’s videos, and today, she is driven into freshwater by “a curiousness. I want to see what I can find, and once you actually do see the fish — oh, it’s so cool.”

For her, snorkeling has “taken over” hiking, and she regularly shares on Facebook what she sees under the waves.

She thinks it could do the same for anyone who “has that love for nature.”

“If you love hiking and seeing what kind of birds you can see — what kind of deer, animals, turkeys, bugs — if you like that, then you’re probably going to love the fish, too,” Larson said.

As for why freshwater snorkeling isn’t already big, “people don’t really understand what freshwater is all about,” said Mark Barrow, a Washburne fan in the United Kingdom who has been filming underwater for more than 30 years.

“They’re unsure of the species that live in (freshwater), and they tend to look at it as unimportant, even though they do rely on it,” he said.

It’s also partially because “the oceans always had Jacques Cousteau as an ambassador, and freshwater just doesn’t seem to have anyone,” he said — except, for some, Washburne.

Engbretson, who lives in Wisconsin, said freshwater bodies might fly under the radar because they’re “so close, and we drive by them everyday, (so) we just don’t think of them as being a destination” for snorkeling.

“And, to be fair, a lot of them are Coca Cola-colored, or chocolate milk,” he said.

But he noted Michigan is “a special place for clear lakes." And those who look into their depths may find more than just fish and seaweed.

In her “Snorkeling Guide to Michigan Inland Lakes,” Washburne described snorkeling as “a great spiritual experience.”

“Within seconds of parking the car and entering the lake, I can literally feel the tension oozing out through my fingertips,” she wrote.

“One can come out of the water in a state of spiritual and mental healing.”

The Pros and Cons of Early Season Scuba Diving

The 2021 season is underway. Water temperatures finally broke the 60-degree mark here in northern Wisconsin, which moved fish out of deep water and into the shallows for spawning.  At this time of year, I don't see many panfish, but the muskies are in the littoral zone completing their spawning rituals. I'm focusing on them now and getting some excellent pictures of post-spawn fish. In the next few weeks, I'll be switching my attention to the bass and crappie that will be spawning next and providing some excellent photo opportunities. Bluegills and pumpkinseed will be the last to spawn, with many bluegills still on nests well into July.

At this time of year, water clarity varies widely. Some lakes have excellent clarity very early in the year that degrades very quickly and never clears up. Other lakes are murky in spring and gradually clear up by mid-summer. Quickly rising temperatures also cause the water to stratify. A barrier can be formed that's difficult to see through. As long as you're looking straight ahead in a horizontal column of water that's the same temperature, you can see well. However, if you look up or down, even a few feet, you won't be able to see far because of this thermal barrier. This can make finding fish difficult. Once the water temperature warms enough, this layer will fall dramatically and form the thermocline, which is typically 20-30 feet deep.

One of the best things about diving Wisconsin's lakes in May is that boat traffic is still very limited. Kids are still in school, summer visitors haven't arrived and many cottages have yet to open for the year. This usually means that during the week, I have the lakes all to myself. After Memorial Day, things get busier. The increased boating traffic always drives the fish away from the shallows to deeper stretches where they're not as easy to find and photograph. Right now, even walleyes are in untypically shallow water and I've seen a few of them near shoreline cover in less than 10 feet of water.  

If you've always wanted to see our native fish in their natural habitat, pick up a snorkel and some swim fins and jump into the closest lake near you. You'll be surprised what you can see this time of year. 

What we Can Learn From Fish When We Spend Time With Them:

Do fish have individual personalities? I'm often asked this question and I have some definite thoughts about it. For me, the answer is unequivocally yes. I’ve been photographing fish underwater in their natural habitat for over 25 years. In that time, there are long stretches when I’ve worked with the same individual fish for years at a time. I think most would agree that just like the personality distinctions one could make between say poodles and collies, distinctions between different types of fish certainly exist. Northern pike have different personality traits than largemouth bass and bluegills. Each species possess their own “group personality identity”.  But I would also suggest that it goes further than that. Individual fish behave differently from their cohorts and exhibit what can only be regarded as unique personalities with as much depth and richness as those of our own pets. 

Epiphanies about fish like this one can easily escape the casual observer and are only possible when one spends an extended amount of time observing and interacting with them. But because fish live in a world separate from ours, it’s difficult to do this in the same way birdwatchers can for example.  To observe fish in their natural habitat, we have to go under the surface with masks & snorkels or diving equipment. 

On warm summer days, our lakes are filled with swimmers and boaters, but they’re largely unaware of the diversity of life that swims just below them. We’re deaf to a grand symphony in concert under the surface. In recent years kayaking has become a very popular way to enjoy our waters. I’d love to see snorkeling gain that same kind of popularity in our inland lakes and become something you do every weekend, and not just when you’re in Hawaii on vacation. 

I’d encourage anyone interested in animals, and especially those interested in fish specifically to explore snorkeling as a way to observe and enjoy fish. They’re so fascinating to watch and there’s much we can learn about them.