Unsalted Great Lakes

We've seen plastic swirling around the ocean, but how much is in the Great Lakes? Meet Eddie Olshansky, a kayaker on the Cuyahoga River who is reeling in trash. We're also joined by Patricia Corcoran, an earth scientist at Western University.  

It started as a hangover cure, but Dan O’Conor ended up jumping in Lake Michigan every day for a year straight. 365 days, 365 jumps.

Oahu surfer Timmy Matthews traded the Pacific Ocean for Lake Ontario.

Jamie Racklyeft from the Great Lakes Water Safety Consortium is back with more water safety tips.

A couple from Canada discusses their first winter on Lake Ontario, from winter storms to spectacular sunrises. 

Algal blooms, invasive species and....lake fires? Find out why with Lake Erie gets a bad rap with Mike McKay, Executive Director of the Great Lakes Institute for Environmental Research.

Five writers share their passion for the Great Lakes: 

Three writers share love letters to the Great Lakes: 

Millions of TikTok followers watch Geo Rutherford's videos to see what she finds on Great Lakes shorelines. Along the way, she's teaching people about the GL's. We talk about beachcombing and why she's just as surprised that so many people tune in. 

Lake Huron is home to the largest underwater salt mine in the world. Goderich tour guide (and town legend) Colleen Maguire talks about how salt was discovered, what the mine looks like underwater (the height of the CN Tower!) and why it hasn't collapsed. 

Hear how Great Lakes fish communicate underwater with Dennis Higgs, a University of Windsor professor focusing on fish sensory systems. 

A wooden boat washed up on Lake Superior with a message on the bottom: throw it back in the water and contact a school in Duluth. How far did it travel? Who tossed it in the lake? We'll unravel the mystery.  

Are the rising water levels climate change or natural fluctuations? We’ll get a science lesson with Drew Gronewold, an associate professor at University of Michigan.

Why We Swim by Bonnie Tsui explores our relationship to swimming and water, from survival to wellness. We talk about swimming from Alcatraz Island to San Francisco, the power of blue spaces and why “rolling ocean waves” is such a popular track on Spotify. 

Do goldfish live in the Great Lakes? 

Christine Boston is an aquatic research biologist with Fisheries and Oceans Canada. She joins us to talk about how big they get, how they wind up in the lakes and whether they stay gold.  

Tristyn von Berg cycled around Lake Michigan in 11 days. He did it on the cheap, with a bike from the 90s and a shoebox attached to it. We talk about why you don’t need expensive gear to take on big adventure. what it's like to cycle Lake Michigan and why he chose the clockwise route.  

Robin Pacquing is co-founder of Lake Surfistas, a community of women who surf and paddle. We talk about lake conditions versus the ocean, which season is best to surf the Great Lakes and how to cope with the cold.  

How does a captain stay cool under pressure? Mike Hartsuff is Relief Captain for three of the biggest and best-known freighters on the Great Lakes.  We talk about keeping calm, what the food is like and the best way to dock a 1000-ft vessel.

Rochelle Byrne stand-up paddled more than 400 km on Lake Ontario in a single month to pick up litter. What did she collect? What wildlife did she see? Join us for the journey.

What do the Great Lakes look like down below? Shipwreck diver Dusty Klifman brings us into Lake Michigan's secret underwater world. We discuss sunken ships, stashes of gold and secrets from the diving community. 

Love the Great Lakes? Join Allison Devereaux as she explores the largest freshwater system on earth. Unsalted: a podcast for people who live, work and play on the Great Lakes.