Second Phase of Lake Minnetonka Sonar Survey Gets Green Light

Lake Minnetonka will become the first body of water in Minnesota to have entirely undergone a remote-sensing survey to locate submerged cultural resources.

Maritime Heritage Minnesota has been awarded a grant for completion of the second phase of a sonar survey to locate maritime and nautical archaeological sites on the bottom of Lake Minnetonka.

Results of the project's first phase, which surveyed lower Lake Minnetonka and Crystal Bay in the upper lake, revealed several new wreck sites and 75 annomolies that may represent human-made objects.

Click here to download the full report.

The second phase of the project will complete the survey of the upper portion of the lake. Work will likely commence in early May, according to Maritime Heritage Minnesota.

Funding for the Lake Minnetonka Survey 2 Project was awarded through the Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund, part of the Clean Water, Land and Legacy Amendment passed by Minnesota voters in 2008.

Lake Minnetonka is far from Maritime Heritage Minnesota's only focus.

In September 2011, Maritime Heritage Minnesota assessed the condition of the the USS Essex, the only example of America's premier 19th Century shipbuilder and designer, Donal McKay's, work known to survive.

The USS Essex lies in the surf zone on Minnesota Point in Duluth. This assessment outlines damage done to the wreck over the years and reiterates the need for the implementation of a preservation plan for this American nautical monument.