The Great Lakes - Part Two

Lakes Michigan and Huron are basically a single lake, Sometimes called Lake Michigan-Huron, combined doth make Total area of 45,300 square miles (117,000 km2) Have the same surface elevation of 577 feet (176 m), Connected by 295-foot deep dire Straits of Mackinac Islands splayed like a rake. Approximately 35,000 islands extant throughout oceanic like sea largest among them is Manitoulin Island in Lake Huron perhaps, The largest island in any inland body of water in the world. The second-largest island is Isle Royale in Lake Superior. Both of these islands are large enough to contain multiple lakes themselves — Manitoulin Island's Lake Manitou is listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the world's largest lake located on a freshwater island. Connection to the ocean: The Saint Lawrence Seaway and Great Lakes Waterway connect the Great Lakes to ocean-going vessels. The move to wider ocean-going container ships — which do not fit through the locks on these routes — has limited container shipping on the lakes. Most Great Lakes trade is of bulk material and bulk freighters of Seawaymax-size or less can move throughout the entire lakes and out to the Atlantic. The Great Lakes are also connected to the Gulf of Mexico by way of the Illinois River (from the Chicago River) and the Mississippi River.