[The Jungle is nowhere near the Great Lakes. The Great Lakes have nothing whatsoever to do with the mission of this publication. Why, then, do I find these statistics about the Great Lakes so fascinating, especially the one about Lake Superior holding enough water to cover all of North and South America with a foot of water. You would think Arizona and Mexico would want some of that. Did you know that Michigan has more lighthouses than any other state in the country? SB SM]
Things You Probably Never Knew About The Great Lakes…..
1. Lake Superior is actually not a lake at all, but an inland sea.
2. All of the four other Great Lakes, plus three more the size of Lake Erie, would fit inside Lake Superior.
3. Isle Royale is a massive island surrounded by Lake Superior. Within this island are several smaller lakes. Yes, that’s a lake on a lake.
4. Despite its massive size, Lake Superior is an extremely young formation by Earth’s standards (only 10,000 years old).
5. There is enough water in Lake Superior to submerge all of North and South America in 1 foot of water.
6. Lake Superior contains 3 quadrillion gallons of water (3,000,000,000,000,000). All five of the Great Lakes combined contain 6 quadrillion gallons.
7. Contained within Lake Superior is a whopping 10% of the world’s fresh surface water.
8. It’s estimated there are about 100 million lake trout in Lake Superior. That’s nearly one-fifth of the human population of North America!
9. There are small outlets through which water leaves Lake Superior. It takes two centuries for all the water in the lake to replace itself.
10. Lake Erie is the fourth-largest Great Lake in surface area, and the smallest in depth. It’s the 11th largest lake on the planet.
11. There is alleged to be a 30- to 40-foot-long “monster” in Lake Erie named Bessie. The earliest recorded sighting goes back as early as 1793.
12. Water in Lake Erie replaces itself in only 2.6 years, which is notable considering the water in Lake Superior takes two centuries.
13. The original publication of Dr. Seuss’s The Lorax contained the line, “I hear things are just as bad up in Lake Erie.”
Fourteen years later, the Ohio Sea Grant Program wrote to Seuss to make the case that conditions had improved. He removed the line.
14. Not only is Lake Erie the smallest Great Lake when it comes to volume, but it’s surrounded by the most industry.