An aerial airplane view of the Mackinac Bridge by Marketa Novakova
DEC. 12, 2021
STRAITS OF MACKINAC, Mich. — Dr. Bob Lorinser, candidate for US Congress in Northern Michigan and the U.P., is showcasing a scenic photo of the day series, featuring landscape images from across the district.
Constituents are welcome to submit photos to info@votedrbob.com.
Today, the Photo of the Day is an airplane aerial over the Mackinac Straits taken above three counties — Emmet to the west, Cheboygan to the east in the Northern Lower, and, representing the Upper Peninsula, Mackinac County encompasses the Northern shore and the three islands.
The three islands forming the eastern edge of Straits of Mackinac include the two populated islands, the Bois Blanc and Mackinac, and one in between them that is uninhabited, the Round island.
These waters are whipsawed by currents unlike anywhere else in the Great Lakes.
The straits were an important Native American and fur trade route, and its waters are still important to Indigenous water protectors. The area is named after Mackinac Island. Local Ojibwe in the Straits of Mackinac region likened the shape of the island to that of a turtle, so they named the island Mitchimakinak, meaning "Big Turtle".
When the British explored the area, they shortened the name to its present form: Mackinac.
At 3+1⁄2 miles wide and has a maximum depth of 295 feet, the straits connect two of the Great Lakes, Lake Michigan and Lake Huron.
They're shallow and narrow enough to freeze over in the winter. Navigation is ensured for year-round shipping to the Lower Great Lakes by the use of icebreakers.
Today's Photo of the Day was taken from its southern shore
Visit Dr. Bob Lorinser's Facebook page and votedrbob.com for daily updated featured photography from all district counties.