Evidence of the second-toughest ice season in the last 11 years of the Great Lakes has been found along the shores of Leelanau County.

Volunteers at the Grand Traverse Lighthouse discovered a large “nun” buoy washed ashore at Leelanau State Park near Northport.

“We’ve known it was there for some time — it was walled up in the ice,”

said Al Ammons, chief of the State Park which includes the Grand Traverse Lighthouse at the tip of the peninsula.

Ammons said a red nun buoy and a green buoy were found this spring along the waterfront in Leelanau Township, near Gills Pier. Each weighs and estimated 400 pounds and are believed to have broken away from their concrete moorings in Lake Michigan near Sturgeon Bay, Wis., about 30 miles west, and come to rest on the Leelanau Peninsula.

“It’s got 40 to 50 feet of chain attached to it,” Ammons said.

The buoys are used in winter months to mark the shipping channel, which are identified by lighted buoys for the remainder of the year.

Occurrences such as this are not unusual, according to Doug Sharp, marine information specialist with the Ninth Coast Guard district in Cleveland.

“Some break loose and end up somewhere else on the beach,” he said.
Retrieval of the buoys could prove challenging for a Coast Guard team based in Milwaukee. The buoys have been replaced with lighted markers.

“If possible, they would use a tow truck and a winch,” Sharp said. “They may send a buoy tender and send a small boat in with a line to retrieve it.”

Whatever the scenario, it could be sometime for the work to be completed. The Ninth Coast Guard District, responsible for the U.S. Great lakes basin and St. Lawrence Seaway, has been busy breaking ice on the Great Lakes.

“We still have a lot of resources in the upper St. Mary’s River, breaking ice and keeping the shipping route open,” Sharp said.

The extensive ice season, second only to 2003, has created an addition challenge for the Ninth District's Operation Spring Restore. The largest U.S. domestic buoy operation restores nearly 1,300 navigational aids to their assigned position, including lighted an unlighted buoys and beacons.

Operation Spring Restore could be delayed significantly and will require increased cutter hours to meet the May 30 deadline.