Are the Great Lakes actually seas?

[@Mikemikemike13579]

I live along Lake Michigan... I have had several friends from out of the state of Michigan that have been absolutely dumbfounded by its magnitude and the sheer fact that it's not possible to see Wisconsin on the other side. To people that have not visited the Great Lakes... they visually look like oceans.

[@michaelfuehrer4081]

I’ve been to the middle several times and you can’t even see a hint of either shore

[@travisvanalst4698]

What’s more worrisome is the fact that your friends can’t gauge distance by looking at a map. I wouldn’t be getting in a car with them driving, that’s for sure.

[@mcburger6023]

There’s a car ferry called the ss badger that sails across the lake

[@briandevine8292]

Same I can see Lake Ontario from my house and I can’t see the US from the other side and it is the smallest great lake

[@wongtimefunguy]

I live a few blocks from Lake Michigan in Milwaukee and have had out state friends also taken back that you just see water...."its like the ocean"

[@Mentally_Will]

Working as a tour guide in Chicago, I encountered a LOT of tourists who straight up refused to believe Lake Michigan was a lake.

[@mgsbrowning]

Where did they think they were? Somewhere not Chicago?😂

[@Mentally_Will]

@@mgsbrowning Working that job convinced me that MOST people suck at geography, not just Americans. I specifically remember one South African dude who even asked if there were sharks in the water... after I already told him it was a freshwater lake.

[@adelechicken6356]

​@@Mentally_Will There are tiny, tiny sharks, but we call them smelt.😊😅

[@dickenscider9178]

​@@Mentally_Will which is crazy considering we have the most insanely detailed map of the entire planet in our pockets. It wasn't until I got older and got into Google earth that I really got a true understanding of what they were trying to teach in grade school geography and history class. Those maps just sucked and they were colored like a Mexican restaurant for no reason.

[@brianstabile165]

@@mgsbrowning hoping they were in better city for food,culture,hockey and rock Detroit rock city

[@MotownGuitarJoe]

Whatever you call them, know this: they can easily kill you, no matter how large a boat/ship you're on.

[@bunnyraggit]

or even if you're in the wrong amount of water at a beach or ther access when there are riptides.

[@LaneEkberg]

edmund fitzgerald...

[@wherethehoochiesat4210]

Okay 😂 3 in of water can kill you, you thought you did something?

[@Imchriswalker]

Not me… stay safe though

[@IsabellaCorrOFFICIAL]

Especially with that random sock in the lake

[@freshwatervibe]

“They are sea like lakes that sometimes act like the ocean”

[@dinoscanfly]

As a native Michigander the great LAKES are lakes and this video low key made me pissed for some reason 😭

[@Captain_James_Matthew]

@@dinoscanflyI wonder how your opinion would change were they labeled as seas.

[@commanderhurst3283]

​@dinoscanfly ngl, as a michigander... I would really like seeing them as The Great Seas... legit that name goes hard. Especially The Superior Sea...

[@PagsPayback]

I hate to be the one telling you this... But the Caspian Sea, despite its name, is actually a lake.

[@mh4392]

Exactly. It’s so big that it absolutely could have international waters, but it doesn’t. And it’s saltier than the Baltic. If the Caspian sea is a lake, then the Great lakes sure are too.

[@wutm8]

And the baltic sea is actually connected to the Mediterranean sea inbetween Greece and whatever country is to the right of Greece

[@PagsPayback]

@@wutm8 You probably mean the Black Sea, which is connected to the Mediterranean Sea by the Bosporus and the Dardanelles, through Turkey (but right next to Greece). The Baltic Sea is Sandwiched between Sweden, Finnland, Germany the Baltics and a few other countries.

[@luigianchondo7241]

Yes

[@Fritzsche-ki6gv]

This video has so much Bs, thanks for commenting. The “giant cruise ships” pail in comparison to even the smallest carnival cruise ship. And he should have clarified “meteotsunamis” instead of just saying “tsunamis”

[@sunnyvasic]

Great lakes also have reefs with rocks and plantation for spawning and sanctuary for breeding fish, and they have lagoons here in lake erie too. It's like an ocean

[@dinarusso3320]

They are small oceans, in my opinion

[@rose-t2l6z]

@@dinarusso3320Small Oceans, Big Seas. But yea you’re right. The first time I saw Lake Ontario when I was little I thought I was looking at the Ocean.

[@autumnryn]

They are beasts and MUST be respected. It is always ice cold. In the fall, the Coast Guard is shut down. These guys went kayaking and came up to this rocky cliff and were bashed against the rocks. All you could do was stand there and listen to the screams for help. It was too dangerous to try and help with the size of these waves. The most helpless feeling I've ever felt... they did not make it. Please respect these beautiful monsters. Land locked means nothing when rivers connect everyone to the ocean. Always respect bodies of water. Always respect Mother Nature. She will take you out in a snap of your fingers.

[@Fritzsche-ki6gv]

Ok but, guess what, you can drown in any lake, a lake near a volcano can sometimes explode and kill people. No matter how treacherous a body of water is, it doesn’t matter. Seas are defined geographically, not by human impact

[@dinarusso3320]

Anything that has it's own coast guard, is massive! I consider them seas for sure. A "lake" doesn't throw kayaks against rocks, no matter what these smart asses say in the comments!

[@rose-t2l6z]

Yes, you must always respect Mother Nature. That must have been a really bad experience though sorry about that.

[@bensmith4563]

They're not always ice cold right now the surface temperature of lake Michigan by where I live is in the mid 70s

[@kam0406]

it depends which lake. Lake Superior is always too cold to swim in because she is northern and deeper than the other lakes. Lake Erie, which I grew up by, would often get quite warm. Too warm in fact, and this would cause issues with algae blooms during the summer heat.

[@zsas7195]

The Great Lakes aren’t landlocked. They are all connected to each other by rivers that eventually lead to the Atlantic.

[@somanyappl3]

Same for the Caspian Sea I believe

[@trowwzers5057]

The river way is artificial or man made. It was originally landlocked

[@ryandyc]

@@trowwzers5057 The upper lakes (Superior, Michigan, Huron, and Erie) were connected to Lake Ontario via the Niagra before the Welland Canal was made. Bad idea to take the falls though in a boat though. Lake Ontario is connected to the ocean by the saint lawrence river and seaway.

[@evan141]

All five of the Great Lakes are high above sea level. Lake Ontario is 243 feet above sea Level being the lowest.

[@sebastianrosa8129]

​​​​@@somanyappl3 the Caspian sea is landlocked, it doesn't have outflows. The point is not about the size or their salinity, but their origins. The Caspian, in addition of being extremely huge (it's larger than the Great Britain), it used to communicate with Black and Med sea millions of years ago, and its seabed is like the ocean's; that's why you can consider it both a sea or a lake. The rest of the landlocked "seas" are called like that due to their salinity or name origins. Same goes for Great Lakes: they are huge (Michigan lake is around two times larger than the Adriatic sea) but they're still fresh and moreover, they originated from ice melting.

[@motorcityemt5903]

If the Great Lakes were actually land locked, we wouldn't have salt walter ships travelling through, which we do...

[@LeviThePilot]

Things You Probably Never Knew About The Great Lakes..... 1. Lake Superior is actually not a lake at all, but an inland sea . 2. All of the four other Great Lakes, plus three more the size of Lake Erie, would fit inside of Lake Superior. 3. Isle Royale is a massive island surrounded by Lake Superior. Within this island are several smaller lakes. Yes, that’s a lake on a lake. 4. Despite its massive size, Lake Superior is an extremely young formation by Earth’s standards (only 10,000 years old). 5. There is enough water in Lake Superior to submerge all of North and South America in 1 foot of water. 6. Lake Superior contains 3 quadrillion gallons of water (3,000,000,000,000,000). All five of the Great Lakes combined contain 6 quadrillion gallons. 7. Contained within Lake Superior is a whopping 10% of the world’s fresh surface water. 8. It’s estimated there are about 100 million lake trout in Lake Superior. That’s nearly one-fifth of the human population of North America! 9. There are small outlets through which water leaves Lake Superior. It takes two centuries for all the water in the lake to replace itself. 10. Lake Erie is the fourth-largest Great Lake in surface area, and the smallest in depth. It’s the 11th largest lake on the planet. 11. There is alleged to be a 30- to 40-foot-long “monster” in Lake Erie named Bessie. The earliest recorded sighting goes back as early as 1793. 12. Water in Lake Erie replaces itself in only 2.6 years, which is notable considering the water in Lake Superior takes two centuries. 13. The original publication of Dr. Seuss’s The Lorax contained the line, “I hear things are just as bad up in Lake Erie.” Fourteen years later, the Ohio Sea Grant Program wrote to Seuss to make the case that conditions had improved. He removed the line. 14. Not only is lake Erie the smallest Great Lake when it comes to volume, but it’s surrounded by the most industry. Seventeen metropolitan areas, each with populations of more than 50,000, border the Lake Erie basin. 15. During the War of 1812, the U.S. beat the British in a naval battle called the Battle of Lake Erie, forcing them to abandon Detroit. 16. The shoreline of all the Great Lakes combined equals nearly 44% of the circumference of the planet. 17. If not for the the Straits of Mackinac, Lake Michigan and Lake Huron might be considered one lake. Hydrologically speaking, they have the same mean water level and are considered one lake. 18. The Keystone State was one of the largest and most luxurious wooden steamships running during the Civil War. In 1861, it disappeared. In 2013, it was found 30 miles northeast of Harrisville under 175 feet of water. 19. Goderich Mine is the largest salt mine in the world. Part of it runs underneath Lake Huron, more than 500 meters underground. 20. Below Lake Huron, there are 9,000-year-old animal-herding structures used by prehistoric people from when the water levels were significantly lower. 21. There are massive sinkholes in Lake Huron that have high amounts of sulfur and low amounts of oxygen, almost replicating the conditions of Earth’s ancient oceans 3 million years ago. Unique ecosystems are contained within them. 22. Lake Huron is the second largest among the Great Lakes, and the fifth largest in the world. 23. In size, Lake Michigan ranks third among the Great Lakes, and sixth among all freshwater lakes in the world. 24. Lake Michigan is the only Great Lake that is entirely within the borders of the United States. 25. The largest fresh water sand dunes in the world line the shores of Lake Michigan. 26. Because water enters and exits Lake Michigan through the same path, it takes 77 years longer for the water to replace itself than in Huron, despite their similarity in size and depth. (Lake Michigan: 99 years, Lake Huron: 22 years) 27. When the temperature of Lake Michigan is below freezing, this happens. 28. Within Lake Michigan there is a “triangle” with a similar reputation to the Bermuda Triangle, where a large amount of “strange disappearances” have occurred. There have also been alleged UFO sightings. 29. Singapore, Mich., is a ghost town on the shores of Lake Michigan that was buried under sand in 1871. Because of severe weather conditions and a lack of resources due to the need to rebuild after the great Chicago fire, the town was lost completely. 30. In the mid-19th century, Lake Michigan had a pirate problem. Their booty: timber. In fact, the demise of Singapore is due in large part to the rapidly deforested area surrounding the town. 31. Jim Dreyer swam across Lake Michigan in 1998 (65 miles), and then in 2003, he swam the length of Lake Michigan (422 miles). 32. Lake Michigan was the location of the first recorded “Big Great Lakes disaster,” in which a steamer carrying 600 people collided with a schooner delivering timber to Chicago. Four hundred and fifty people died. 33. Lake Ontario is the smallest of the Great Lakes in surface area, and second smallest in depth. It’s the 14th largest lake on the planet. 34. The province Ontario was named after the lake, and not vice versa. 35. In 1804, a Canadian warship, His Majesty’s Ship Speedy, sank in Lake Ontario. In 1990, wreck hunter Ed Burtt managed to find it. Only, he isn’t allowed to recover any artifacts until a government-approved site to exhibit them is found. He’s still waiting. 36. Babe Ruth hit his first major league home run at Hanlan’s Point Stadium in Toronto. It landed in Lake Ontario and is believed to still be there. 37. A lake on Saturn’s moon Titan is named after Lake Ontario.

[@bloodclaat]

You said Lake Superior is a sea then proceed to say Isle Royale is an island with lakes, thus “lake on a lake” - you don’t make sense.

[@goodnight63]

@@bloodclaatof course they call it a lake cuz that’s it’s formal title. It still doesn’t make it not a sea

[@bloodclaat]

@@goodnight63 A lake is not a sea and a sea is not a lake.

[@Fritzsche-ki6gv]

@@goodnight63 it’s a lake

[@Fritzsche-ki6gv]

Lake Superior is not a sea. There’s more difference than salt let me tell ya,

[@lilkenx8039]

The loop though🔥

[@indigo1324]

I think what makes them lakes and not seas is that water only flows FROM the lakes TO the ocean. In the case of a sea like the Baltic Sea, water can flow both directions. In the case of the Caspian Sea, it doesn’t connect to the ocean, but if it did, water would flow FROM the ocean TO the Caspian Sea, the reverse of the Great Lakes, because the Caspian is below sea level. So I think the Great Lakes are lakes because they connect to the ocean in a way that only lakes can because they are above sea level.

[@joem9124]

Do you ever wonder, when you say things like that, that the earth is actually a flat plane

[@kaleholt]

​@@joem9124 Gravity

[@joem9124]

@@kaleholt you're really clever I can tell

[@BowChickaWow]

@@joem9124 we can’t nature friend…. we can’t fight… gravity…….

[@indigo1324]

@@insertnamehere313 actually I just visited Lake Superior for the first time recently when I was in Duluth! (I live near Lake Michigan in Illinois.) Lake Superior was pretty calm while I was up there but I’ve seen videos of big waves on Lake Superior before.

[@Detroit_Eggy79]

The Great Lakes also strongly influence climate.

[@knucklehoagies]

I never understood why we refer to them as lakes. I live in Chicago just blocks away from Lake Michigan and it literally looks like an ocean. The water is even blue, there are literal beaches with sand and everythinf.... when i think "lake" i think of murky green water thats small enough to where you can see the other side of

[@dinarusso3320]

Exactly, but it's all about whatever important person named them....

[@cletusburgerboy9143]

Yes. They are. They act like seas and are the most treacherous waters in the U.S. outside of the ocean.

[@LoganIvey]

Lakes on a map, seas on a boat

[@cletusburgerboy9143]

@@LoganIvey it's seas on the people too. The tides are strong.

[@junebug313]

Shit Lake superior is arguably more treacherous than most of the ocean

[@cletusburgerboy9143]

@@junebug313 I've got to agree

[@brandonmarsdin3874]

The Great Lakes are also in Canada dawg.

[@jonathangerhardt773]

I found out recently that the great lakes aren't actually land locked, the St. Lawrence River connects them to the ocean

[@RescueDogFam]

YES, The Great Lakes are seas. You need Sea Worthy equipment in order to traverse them. The cute Kayak that can be used at a small campground lake is NOT the same equipment that can be used on a Great Lake. So far, I've visited 3 of the Lakes: Erie, Huron, and Michigan. And all of them are powerful bodies of water that should be treated with caution. Riptide currents are no joke and do kill people every year.

[@adelechicken6356]

There are dangers on the great lakes, especially the riptides and storm. Many people have used kayaks on Lake Superior mostly for sightseeing, so they stay fairly close to the shore. And then there are people who surf during storms here.

[@AlexHardman-yr6yh]

I mean I was kayaking on Superior last summer and didn’t have too much trouble 😂

[@travisvanalst4698]

Tell me you don’t live near a Great Lake without telling me you don’t live near a Great Lake. I live on Lake Huron in Michigan. My sundolpin kayak from Walmart navigates those “treacherous sea waters” easily with no issues. GTFO.

[@RescueDogFam]

@travisvanalst4698 I live near Lake Erie. 🙄 and yes, near the shoreline sure. But the coast guard recommends heavier equipment for actually crossing and going further out into a Great Lake. Sea kayaks also have bulkheads to prevent water from flooding the entire boat. A sea kayak is the only type of kayak that should be used on Lake Superior. A recreational or general purpose kayak is for the casual paddler on placid rivers, ponds, or small lakes.Dec 5, 2022 www.nps.gov › planyourvisit Kayaking at Pictured Rocks - National Park Service

[@circleinforthecube5170]

@@travisvanalst4698 lake Huron has very different power than lake Michigan/superior, i live on lake Erie, yes you can maybe kayak near the shore on Huron/Erie but lake Michigan and superior are different monsters, lake Huron has the capability to sink relatively modern Lakers, the great lakes are no joke and underestimating them is how causalities occur, we dont have the most lighthouses out of any state just because they look cool.

[@amythejaded]

I live along the North Coast of Ohio, been out on boats most of my childhood. They are definitely inland seas. Even Lake Erie, the shallowest lake, has cargo freighters, massive storms, shipwrecks, islands, it’s so much water it even affects the climate around here. In fact, a lot of business and small cities around here market themselves as being “on the North Coast”, and the ones that have fishing based economies are very much marine cities. It takes hours to drive across by boat, between 3-5 depending on speed of boat and which way you’re crossing the lakes. They are inland seas by every technical definition, they only seem to be called lakes because this region is filled with hundreds of lakes all the way up through Canada, these 5 are just the biggest by far. Anybody who lives near these lakes like I do, or has even just visited them, can confirm that they really should be reclassified as inland seas.

[@closev1nce276]

The Caspian Sea is the largest lake they just named it that way

[@jessebanda4953]

Superior still retains its hold as the largest freshwater lake that exists by surface area and Baikal has more water because it's deeper than any lake that exists.

[@The_Original_Rtxyz]

I used to live in Chicago and once my friend invited me to the space museum and when we were at the food court that overlooks Lake Michigan, some kid said “Wow it’s the ocean” I literally burst out laughing

[@speakerebox]

LAKE SUPERIOR IS STRONGER THAN THE PACIFIC THOSE WAVES ARE INSANE.

[@OshKoshWorldwide]

I doubt that. Not as much force behind it.

[@julesjma]

Uh, no.

[@iKenFlyPPG]

Superior was called Big Sea Water by natives

[@nw4042]

Been to and swam in both, lived off the south shore of Superior; no they're not.

[@iKenFlyPPG]

​@@nw4042 I swam Superior many times, I recall one year I hung out with a kid my age up in Grand Marias, sadly later that year he went out onto the break water when it was rough, wave came and he was swept away, taken into the sea not sea.

[@levilliedavis4469]

Well they call ‘‘em lakes but they are really inland seas

[@Fritzsche-ki6gv]

No

[@jacksnyder7318]

They were once called the "sweet water seas" before "civilization" took over and polluted them.

[@Big_Sierra]

They are inland seas, and ignorantly calling them lakes has cost an untold number of lives due to drowning.

[@alfonsorivera8408]

You can drown in an inch of water dude.

[@nw4042]

Calling them lakes is not what lead to the drowning. Ignorance and/or the mighty forces of nature are.

[@compdude22]

I would posit that the Great Salt Lake should be ignored as precedence, because it has no drain and sits in a salt bed, thus being naturally salty. Then again, the Salton Sea in California also has no drain, is salty, but we call it a sea. So I suspect maybe drain-less bodies of waters are forever doomed to be inconsistent in English.

[@indigo1324]

I think it has to do with the elevation of said body of water. The Great Salt Lake is above sea level while the Salton Sea is below sea level. If you look at all seas and lakes, there’s a pretty consistent rule that if they’re at or below sea level, they’re called “seas,” while if they’re above sea level, they’re called “lakes.” The Caspian Sea, Salton Sea, Sea of Galilee, Dead Sea, Black Sea, Baltic Sea, and Mediterranean Sea are all at or below sea level. The Great Lakes, Lake Victoria, and The Great Salt Lake are all above sea level. The only exception to this rule I can think of is the Aral Sea, which was above sea level. It barely even exists anymore sadly though. But overall, this seems like a pretty consistent rule.

[@gmboutdoors855]

I grew up along Lake Michigan. My girlfriend is from Pennsylvania, and had never seen the Great Lakes before I took her home. She was flabbergasted at the size of the lakes and how they behaved almost exactly like oceans.

[@FlynnFish]

They behave more like seas and oceans

[@shtrdVo1cano]

Throwback to 2017... The perfect loop doesn't exi...

[@BurchellAtTheWharf]

The st Lawrence river runs from all of the great lakes to the gulf of st Lawrence and eventually to that western Atlantic

[@bullgator2069]

That was a clean loop

[@SessaV]

My family has lived in Michigan and the great lakes region for hundreds of years. We call them inland fresh water seas when explaining them to people.

[@oO-_-_-_-Oo]

The Great Seas just don't have that special sound

[@sv4647]

Personally I would say if a water body is over 50km in length, 50km in width and is atleast 50m deep. Then it should be considered a sea.

[@Nariario77]

They are above sea level and they are inland. Lakes don’t have a size limit: it’s a lake it it’s inland

[@Fritzsche-ki6gv]

Ok…if ear5 was the side of Jupiter, but we had a lake…the size of one whole face of the planet, waves with ocean size…but it was landlocked, above a bigger ocean (to be fair, the ocean would have to be bigger otherwise this lake would be considered the ocean) and freshwater sources are below it, it’s still a lake

[@BrianW-dz6yn]

good thing your just a dingus and your opinion means 0%

[@wizardgamer5553]

also the great lakes are desperately underestimated in size on Google maps

[@warriyorcat]

Well the mercator map projection sucks in general

[@Fritzsche-ki6gv]

Actually, unless your viewing globe, it would, overestimate them

[@mboyer68]

The great lakes aren't landlocked, you can sail right to the Atlantic ocean through the St Lawrence River.

[@evan141]

All five of the Great Lakes are high above sea level. That

[@Fritzsche-ki6gv]

That’s. Not. What. Landlocked. Means.

[@mgsbrowning]

Water levels can change on a dime on Lake Superior. I was fishing on the shoreline of Superior last year where a small river emptied to the lake. It was sunset and not a cloud in the sky the lake was calm with really no waves. The clear water suddenly became murky, and the lake water rose and started flowing INTO the river! Instead of the river flowing into the lake! Most bizarre thing I think I had ever seen. I watched boulders that stuck out of the water by about 1’ disappear under the water, they were about 20 meters from the shore. This happened in about 10 minutes.

[@wrotedog]

So superior produces it own water?? If so this explains why they flow so much water out of Niagara and never go dry.. interesting 🤔

[@mgsbrowning]

@@wrotedog No., it doesn’t produce its own water. The Great Lakes are supplied by water from surrounding rivers and creeks, and snowmelt in the spring, it’s a part of a watershed. What I witnessed was most likely a seiche, which is when changes in atmospheric pressure effect water levels in a lake. The following morning after I described what happened a low pressure system rolled in and it stormed, the seiche just happened very early I guess.

[@mgsbrowning]

@@wrotedog there is a very good example of a seiche here on YT posted by jblehman. The man’s boat was on its side in the sand one minute and two minutes later it was back in a few feet of water.

[@Fritzsche-ki6gv]

You can’t produce water my dude@@wrotedog

[@debbiethomas4783]

Theyre fresh water inland oceans.

[@IAmAMeateater]

Lake Superior is the greatest body of water on earth. Screw salt water 🤮

[@MistFN-et6cb]

Salt water Is fine lol, first time I got salt water In mouth I hated It, but I quickly got used to It.

[@AbsolutDasher]

How to tell if it's a sea: if it's at SEA LEVEL, it's a sea

[@OhJuba]

Fun fact Lake Superior is 1300ft deep at its deepest points, Lake Michigan is about 950ft deep. As a Michigander I will now refer to them as the great seas

[@rottenroads1982]

Are the Great Lakes Seas? In a sense, they are Both Lake & Sea. They are Lakes because of they are Fresh Water & Land Locked, and they are Sea’s because they have Tides and have features only Oceans have. They are the Great Lake Inland Seas of North America. Superior, Huron, Michigan, Erie, and Ontario.

[@LofusYanchi-jt1yp]

They are lakes, enough of this pointless argument just for no other reason other than being contrary...that's really dumb.

[@macdub42]

Nah. As a Michigander, they're glacial puddles.

[@KyleLeHeup]

Puddles lol

[@RosemarieCollins-bh4md]

😅😂

[@LittletbigT]

Well I think the answer to this is that "The Caspian Sea", is also a lake, just a very very big one.

[@shockwave2128]

The perfect loop doesn't exi- Ok fr tho that loop was legitimate perfection, like, the smoothest I've ever seen.

[@BandhnaMahajan]

Lakes of large extent are called seas. From 9th geography 😂😂

[@jointhefist1016]

Lake Winnipeg is also bigger than some of the Great Lake. Would it also be a sea?

[@Michael-ek2eb]

Cleveland coast guard. In case the Canadians come to invade America astride their moose.

[@malcolmabram2957]

The best definition of a lake is that it has a flow of water through it, be it via rivers or through the ground. If it does not, I. E. The terminus of a flow system, then it is a sea. The salinity is not a defining factor. By this definition the great lakes are true lakes, whereas the Caspian is a true sea.

[@adelechicken6356]

This says that they have tsunamis, they do not. Check definition of tsunami, caused by earthquakes and feature water receding rapidly and then coming back in huge wave. Huge waves on Lake Superior are caused by very strong wind over period of time and the huge length of the lake and keep coming hour after hour.

[@WyaCash]

Lake michigan is massive in person it looks like a ocean cant see nothing but water

[@wolf-xf6hf]

The Great Lakes are lakes with the exception of Lake Superior. The difference is size since Lake Superior holds twice as much water as all the other Great Lakes combined and holds 10% of the worlds freshwater by itself. Lake Superior holds enough water to cover all of north and South America under two feet of fresh water. Personally I think it should be renamed “the superior sea” or “the sea of superior” but that’s just me

[@bensmith4563]

Lake baikal in Russia holds more water than the great lakes put together it's over a mile deep

[@PatTheFox]

The Baltic Sea while not that salty,still has saltwater habitats like coral reefs and seagrass meadows.

[@CrisperPigeon]

The Caspuan sea is a misnomer because it is technically a lake

[@SamogitianGaming]

Lakes are not connected to the ocean in through seas, channels or directly. Caspian sea is a lake, it's only called a sea because of its salty water Romans thought it was a sea

[@djtrippd]

That's why they call it Ontario's coast.

[@rk-fb5hw]

They have rivers flowing in and out. I vote for lakes.

[@TinyTurtlesRule]

Its more like a fresh water sea

[@geroldy4546]

Europeans can’t fathom America’s simple lakes

[@AndrewLachowicz-r9i]

They are Seas, b/c you can’t see any land sailing in the middle of them.

[@Dylan_Stewart]

They should be a sea because the st Laurence river leads to the ocean from the lakes.

[@-BUGZ-]

I grew up along Lake Huron on the weekends with my dad. I have a short up of me chilling at Tawas Point State Park and it kinda gives you an idea of how vast these Lakes really are. I have been to 4/5 so far my last one to visit being Lake Eerie so, one day. But you could definitely call them mini seas/Oceans, that’s what I call them even though they are fresh water lakes. They are just HUGE. Superior is DEEEEEP.

[@Howl805]

I live in the Upper peninsula in a town where it’s normal to see those giant freighters just floating through the space between our mainland town and the island across from us. Driving across the mackinaw bridge quickly let’s you get a feeling as to how vast the Great Lakes are.

[@rustyray420]

The Caspian Sea is also actually considered a lake, the largest lake in the world infact

[@circleinforthecube5170]

if lake huron and michigan are technically the same lake that will be the biggest but dont tell michiganders and yoopers that we like to keep them seperate

[@Nariario77]

⁠@@circleinforthecube5170it still wouldn’t be the largest. The Great Lakes in total is around 94,000 mi2 The Caspian Sea is around 143,000 mi2.

[@circleinforthecube5170]

@@Nariario77 eh, true. i was speaking freshwater though caspian sea is salty and honestly it should be classified as a sea

[@Fritzsche-ki6gv]

The Caspian Sea is brackish, and still should not be a sea. @@circleinforthecube5170

[@loganmott2015]

Just one of the Great Lakes is bigger than VT so I’d consider them a sea.

[@UR_Right24]

They're not landlocked. The Erie canal connects to the Atlantic ocean.

[@KyleLeHeup]

St.lawrence river 🤦

[@Fritzsche-ki6gv]

That’s not what landlocked means dummy

[@christophersherman1198]

I see. 😂

[@chrisetzkorn3861]

Either way it's a lot of water

[@otm646]

Saying the Great Lakes have tides is a real stretch. 2 inches is the max tidal variation

[@mgsbrowning]

It’s not really tides. But as the video states tide-like behaviors. If a storm rolls in or the wind blows the right way. Levels can raise or lower drastically. I can attest to this. I have been fishing at a mouth of a small river that emptied into Lake Superior, it was clear, calm, no waves. Suddenly, the water turned murky, and the lake started flowing into the river, instead of the other way around. I watched as boulders about 20 meters from the shoreline that were sticking about a foot above the water disappear under the water. That day was one of the most bizarre moments of my life. Im not entirely sure what caused the situation but it was amazing to see.

[@justso4509]

@@mgsbrowning Pretty cool. Maybe you witnessed a seiche?

[@mgsbrowning]

@@justso4509 Maybe. There were a line of storms that came through later the next morning

[@Fritzsche-ki6gv]

Probably a seiche, which don’t happen in cycles, or regularly like tides@@mgsbrowning

[@Fritzsche-ki6gv]

2cm in fact*

[@dupke2374]

The Great Lakes actually are in land seas.

[@okman9684]

They don't have Exclusive Economic Zone where as caspian sea has a EEZ

[@suehinze1566]

I think they should be able to be called seas. If you look up the history of all the great lakes, you'll see that there is many ship wrecks and even airline that haven't been found. The lakes are very deep, 1000 ft in some areas, and create very dangerous winds and waves.

[@Fritzsche-ki6gv]

1000 feet in Lake Superior in one location* look…danger isn’t why we call seas seas

[@Nex41354]

As a Minnesotan, Lake Superior is indeed a sea.

[@Kushvader]

Now I must visit the Great Lakes. From Az so lakes are cool

[@okman9684]

26:40 Holy sh*t, so now i need a calculator to decide my tip for simple dine out

[@ifanythingiwant]

lakes are where river water collects they lead to rivers that lead to sea seas are designations for parts of oceans that are surrounded by land like the mediterranean sea or the yellow sea the great salt lake is a lake the caspian seas i a lake too but everybody calls it a sea

[@H.H.Hoosier]

caspian sea is salt water

[@yvesouellette9612]

They have tides?

[@warriyorcat]

Barely, but yes. It's a couple inches either way. The Lakes get seiches, too.

[@garyszewc3339]

When has there ever been a tsunami in any of the Great lakes? They are definitely lakes. They are fed by rivers and then empty into the ocean.

[@alexbeau3964]

I’ve been into the centre of one of the smaller lakes, Lake Erie and you can’t see anything but water like it’s the ocean.

[@richardtyler6472]

I live on Lake Michigan on the west Michigan coast. We are proud of our Great Lakes and want to protect them. While they are as large as seas, they don’t feel like one. It feels like a giant lake. I’m never worried about what creatures live in them, we don’t have massive tide changes, they just feel safer to me. That’s not to say they aren’t incredibly dangerous though. Rip tides and undertows are the biggest threat to swimmers. Waves can get enormous during storms, 20ft+, the height of the lakes changes a ton year to year. A lot of homes where I live have had to build emergency sea walls in the last few years just to save their house!

[@Rocketman0407]

The Great Lakes are not landlocked. Neither is the Caspian Sea it’s actually a big shipping route going from the Caspian Sea to the Black Sea.

[@larrydanadavid2435]

What’s up with all these stuck up bodies of water? Looking at you Lake Superior. - Norm Macdonald

[@TheXeneco]

Lakes are just wide parts of rivers…they have inflows and outflows. A sea only has inflows. AFAIK, the Great Lakes empty….eventually into the ocean. Also, two of them are actually just one…they are at the same level

[@bgilchrist228]

The Great Lake tides are up to 3 inches, obviously the Moons' gravity tugs on them less than the oceans.

[@Fritzsche-ki6gv]

2 cm*

[@davidwadsworth8982]

Lake Ontario is maybe the closest one to a Sea,with it being connected to the North Atlantic.Via the Saint Lawrence River So not totally land locked. I have surfed Ontario,and Erie.I worked on the lakes long long ago. Storms come up faster then on the salt.1,000 foot ships work the Lakes,and get btorn up some in Laker storms.

[@DwayneETowns]

I like thinking that they're seas because they're so massive. We in Michigan are very proud of our beautiful upper/ lower peninsula state.☺️😊

[@Suncoastflips]

Born and raised in Tampa bay. When I witnessed Lake Michigan I was bamboozled. Shit had better waves then Clearwater beach

[@freightersonthegreatlakes995]

The Great Lakes aren’t land locked lake freighters go out to the ocean all the time and salties come in all the time, there’s a river connecting it to the ocean

[@Nariario77]

It’s connected by man-made canals. But the lakes are freshwater

[@freightersonthegreatlakes995]

@@Nariario77the st Lawrence seaway isn’t man made bud

[@Fritzsche-ki6gv]

Please learn what landlocked means

[@Fritzsche-ki6gv]

But the locks are, and the entire river was dredged@@freightersonthegreatlakes995

[@Levilevi4]

It’s a combination of having extremely low salinity, being completely land locked, and not being deep or big enough. Oceans average depth is 12,000 ft the Great Lakes are nowhere near that.

[@arthurzettel6618]

What three things are not mentioned is the fact that the Great Lakes are prone to hurricane force winds, especially Lake Superior and Lake Michigan, in a certain time of the year. Two of the Great Lakes can have a rogue wave. There is also a Great Lakes Triangle. There is also the Great Lakes Triangle. (Look it up about the Triangle)

[@CortexNewsService]

In sheer size, they are functionally seas. They affect climate and weather like seas, they impact the shore and communities on the shore like seas. They have a "weight" to them. Even when you're not in sight of them, you just know when you're close to them.

[@JG22_45]

They used to be an ocean. But it’s not a city because of the Ice Age it destroyed everything. They’re so some salt under the sand, but yeah.

[@Stereostupid]

I would actually consider them seas for sure

[@ryangray600]

When I used to go to cubs games as a kid driving with my parents on lakeshore drive I always said that Lake Michigan was the ocean but my parents always corrected me. I always thought they were lying

[@chickenmcmuffin2373]

They’re lakes mofo, and that’s that.. no question about it. It’s a lake. Not a sea. No question. It’s not a sea.

[@thephantomeagle2]

I have spent time on 4 of the Great lakes. Spent many summers on the shore of Lake Michigan. They are inland seas. Fresh water, but still seas.

[@bilahn1198]

No! Sea is a very imprecise term. The Great Lake are definitely lakes. The Caspian Sea is regarded as a lake because it is landlocked. However, it was formed as a cut off from the ocean so some consider it not to be a lake.

[@julesjma]

I grew up near Lake Superior, when i moved to Oregon and first saw the Pacific, it wasn't that striking. It was a bit "Meh".

[@Chavez787]

I live in the Chicagoland area. I have friends and family that have visited from out of state. Their first impression is that they say it looks like an ocean. I tend to agree, although Lake Michigan waves are more calm than ocean waves imo.

[@TheParadoxDestroyer]

Talk to any skipper or crew of Great Lakes freighters and the salties that visit through the St. Lawrence Seaway. They pretty much all think of them as seas.