Whitefish Point is a cape of
Michigan
Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...
's
Upper Peninsula
The Upper Peninsula of Michigan—also known as Upper Michigan or colloquially the U.P. or Yoop—is the northern and more elevated of the two major landmasses that make up the U.S. state of Michigan; it is separated from the Lower Peninsula b ...
, United States, marking the entry point of
Whitefish Bay. It is north of the unincorporated community of
Paradise, Michigan.
Whitefish Point is known for the
Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum, its
Lake Superior
Lake Superior is the largest freshwater lake in the world by surface areaThe Caspian Sea is the largest lake, but is saline, not freshwater. Lake Michigan–Huron has a larger combined surface area than Superior, but is normally considered tw ...
shoreline, the
Whitefish Point Lighthouse and as a prime birding area. Whitefish Point is a designated
Important Bird Area
An Important Bird and Biodiversity Area (IBA) is an area identified using an internationally agreed set of criteria as being globally important for the conservation of bird populations.
IBA was developed and sites are identified by BirdLife Int ...
. The
Whitefish Point Bird Observatory, an affiliate of the Michigan
Audubon Society
The National Audubon Society (Audubon; ) is an American non-profit environmental organization dedicated to conservation of birds and their habitats. Located in the United States and incorporated in 1905, Audubon is one of the oldest of such orga ...
, operates a research and education facility at Whitefish Point.
At 17 miles away, Whitefish Point is the nearest navigation mark to the wreckage of the ore freighter
SS ''Edmund Fitzgerald'', which sank in 1975. Whitefish Point remains one of the most dangerous shipping areas in the
Great Lakes
The Great Lakes, also called the Great Lakes of North America, are a series of large interconnected freshwater lakes spanning the Canada–United States border. The five lakes are Lake Superior, Superior, Lake Michigan, Michigan, Lake Huron, H ...
, Known as the
graveyard of the Great Lakes,
more vessels have been lost in the Whitefish Point area than any other part of Lake Superior.
The
Whitefish Point Underwater Preserve protects the shipwrecks in a portion of the bay for future generations of sports divers.
The Point is a popular place for rock collectors, ship watchers, and bird watching. Whitefish Point's land and water provides a natural corridor for birds that makes it a migratory route of world significance. It is a designated
Important Bird Area
An Important Bird and Biodiversity Area (IBA) is an area identified using an internationally agreed set of criteria as being globally important for the conservation of bird populations.
IBA was developed and sites are identified by BirdLife Int ...
where the
Whitefish Point Bird Observatory conducts important research.
Whitefish Point is the home of a former
United States Coast Guard station.
Climate
References
External links
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{{Authority control
Geography of Chippewa County, Michigan
Headlands of the United States