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Rip Currents
In the wake of multiple drowning deaths in southern and northern Lake Michigan, Michigan Sea Grant outreach staff teamed up with the Mackinac County Water Safety Review Team and the Pier Safety Task Force to assist with public outreach promoting water safety. Efforts include production of Web and print publications, beach signs, workshops and media outreach.

Michigan Sea Grant is also working with the National Weather Service and the U.S. Life Saving Association (USLA) to raise awareness of rip currents in the Great Lakes and oceans. Rip currents are powerful currents that can develop rapidly and pull swimmers offshore. According to USLA, rip currents account for some 80 percent of lifeguard rescues.
For more information see: www.miseagrant.umich.edu/rip

Restoring the Great Lakes
In partnership with the Michigan Office of the Great Lakes and the Great Lakes Commission, Michigan Sea Grant sponsored a public workshop to identify priorities for ecosystem restoration and protection, as well as implementation opportunities. The Michigan workshop is one in a series of state workshops designed to identify, refine and establish the scientific basis for region-wide restoration priorities. The larger effort is assisting the Council of Great Lakes Governors in refining their draft priorities and will inform federal restoration legislation being considered by Congress. This project and another by the Northeast-Midwest Institute to identify lessons learned from other large-scale ecosystem restoration efforts, is being funded by the National Sea Grant Program and administered by Michigan Sea Grant. For more information contact Jennifer Read at jenread@umich.edu or (734) 936-3622.