(Lake) Superior Pursuit Available

September 1998

by Sea Grant Staff

If you live anywhere near Lake Superior, you’ve heard the brag: Lake Superior is the largest freshwater lake by surface area. It’s second only to Lake Baikal in Russia for volume -- the amount of water it holds.

Well, did you know it’s actually THIRD in volume? It ranks behind Baikal and Lake Tanganyika in Africa. But never fear, Lake Superior is still big enough to hold the water from all of the other Great Lakes, including three more Lake Eries.

These facts and more can be found in a free brochure, Superior Pursuit: Facts About the Greatest Great Lake. The publication was recently updated and produced by Sea Grant with help from the Lake Superior Center and the Western Lake Superior Sanitary District in Duluth.

“This brochure is for anyone who is interested in Lake Superior,” said Marie Zhuikov, Communications Coordinator. “It’s written for both U.S. and Canadian audiences, with comparative measurements in metric and English units. It provides a ton of Lake Superior facts at your fingertips.”

To order your copy, look on the publications page and our free order form, under the travel/tourism category (item S4). The brochure is free unless bulk quantities are ordered.

Lake Superior Facts — At a Glance

Size: 31,700 square miles / 82,100 square kilometers

Water retention/replacement time: 191 years

Deepest spot: 1,332 feet / 406 meters

Shoreline length: 1,826 miles / 2,938 kilometers

Watershed area: 49,300 square miles / 127,700 square kilometers

Average outflow of water: 75,000 cubic feet per second / 2,124 cubic meters

Elevation: 600 feet above sea level / 183 meters

Average water temperature: 40° F / 4° C

Average foggy days in Duluth: 52

Average underwater visibility: 27 feet / 8 meters

Number of fish species: 78

Basin population: 425,548 U.S. citizens and 181,573 Canadians

Number of tourists in 1997: 3.5 million

Average number of vessels that visit the Duluth/Superior port: 1,000

Volume: Three quadrillion (3,000,000,000,000,000) gallons, 11,400,000,000,000,000 liters

Return to September 1998 Seiche