Tour a Thunder Bay shipwreck without getting wet

Calling all shipwreck enthusiasts! Always wanted to explore an underwater shipwreck but not a fan of getting wet? This Saturday is your lucky day.

Anyone with an Internet connection will have access to an underwater shipwreck tour at the Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary in Alpena, Mich. Saturday.

Located in Lake Huron, Thunder Bay is the only federally-protected underwater sanctuary in the Great Lakes.

The National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration will host two “Live Dive” webcasts from the Grecian, a steel freighter that sank in Thunder Bay in 1906. The Grecian is one of more than 200 historic shipwrecks in “Shipwreck Alley,” an area known for extreme weather, according to the sanctuary’s website.

During the 20-minute webcasts, viewers can see underwater archaeologists document shipwrecks and learn what they are doing to protect them. The webcasts will broadcast at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m.

You can watch the webcasts online at the Thunder Bay website.

They will also be broadcast at the Great Lakes Maritime Heritage Center at Thunder Bay. Both online viewers and those at the heritage center will have equal chance to interact with the sanctuary’s dive team during the webcast. Anyone can send questions through email to thunderstruck@thunderbayfriends.org and receive answers from the divers in real-time.

This is the second “Live Dive” hosted at Thunder Bay. “Last time we did this in 2010 the whole theater was full,” said Stephanie Gandulla, media and outreach coordinator at Thunder Bay. “It’s a lot of preparation.”

The program is a partnership between the University of North Carolina’s Coastal Studies Institute and the University of Michigan, and is funded by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.