Great Lakes

The Great Lakes (also called the Laurentian Great Lakes, or the Great Lakes of North America) are a series of interconnected freshwater lakes located in northeastern North America, on the Canada–United States border, which connect to the Atlantic Ocean through the Saint Lawrence River. Consisting of Lakes Superior, Michigan, Huron (or Michigan–Huron), Erie, and Ontario, they form the largest group of freshwater lakes on Earth, containing 21% of the world's surface fresh water by volume. The total surface is 94,250 square miles (244,106 km²), and the total volume (measured at the low water datum) is 5,439 cubic miles (22,671 km³). Due to their sea-like characteristics (rolling waves, sustained winds, strong currents, great depths, and distant horizons) the five Great Lakes have also long been referred to as inland seas. Lake Superior is the second largest lake in the world by area, and Lake Michigan is the largest lake that is entirely within one country. The southern half of the Great Lakes is surrounded by the Great Lakes Megalopolis.

African Great Lakes

The African Great Lakes (Swahili: Maziwa Makuu) are a series of lakes constituting the part of the Rift Valley lakes in and around the East African Rift. They include Lake Victoria, the third largest fresh water lake in the world by area, and Lake Tanganyika, the world's second largest lake by volume and depth.

The large rift lakes of Africa are the ancient home of great biodiversity; 10 percent of the world's fish species are found there. Lakes Victoria, Tanganyika, and Malawi hold a quarter of the planet's freshwater supply.

Countries in the African Great Lakes region (sometimes also called Greater Lakes region) include Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda.

Catchments

The African Great Lakes are divided among three different catchments (river basins); a number, such as Lake Turkana, also have internal drainage systems. The following, in order of size from largest to smallest, are included on most lists of the African Great Lakes:

Great Lakes (disambiguation)

The Great Lakes are a collection of large lakes in eastern North America.

Great Lakes or Great Lake may also refer to:

Lakes

Other uses

Cetacean stranding

Cetacean stranding is a phenomenon in which cetaceans strand themselves on land, usually on a beach. Beached whales often die due to dehydration, collapsing under their own weight, or drowning when high tide covers the blowhole. Several explanations of the stranding have been proposed.

Species

Every year, up to 2,000 animals beach themselves. Although the majority of strandings result in death, they pose no threat to any species as a whole. Only about 10 cetacean species frequently display mass beachings, with 10 more rarely doing so.

All frequently involved species are toothed whales (Odontoceti), rather than baleen whales (Mysticeti). These species share some characteristics which may explain why they beach.

Body size does not normally affect the frequency, but both the animals' normal habitat and social organization do appear to influence their chances of coming ashore in large numbers. Odontocetes that normally inhabit deep waters and live in large, tightly knit groups are the most susceptible. This includes the sperm whale, oceanic dolphins, usually pilot and killer whales, and a few beaked whale species.

Great Lakes (band)

Great Lakes is an American rock band formed in Athens, Georgia, in 1996. They have been based out of Brooklyn since 2002. The group's original lineup consisted of Ben Crum, James Huggins and Dan Donahue. Huggins' involvement dwindled over time, and Donahue and Crum split acrimoniously in 2008. Crum is the only original member remaining, and he continues to perform and record as Great Lakes, with various supporting members. Donahue and Huggins are both currently releasing new material with various groups as well as their principle songwriting outlets, Dream Boat and James Husband respectively. Donahue has contributed lyrics to several other bands' albums, including Of Montreal's City Bird, Elf Power's The Taking Under, and Bear In Heaven's Space Remains. Donahue has designed art, album covers, and videos for the bands MGMT, Pavement, Belle and Sebastian, and R.E.M.

History

Formation

The group started as a songwriting partnership between Dan Donahue and Ben Crum. With James Huggins III, the band officially formed in 1996. The original lineup also included bassist/vocalist Craig Ceravolo and performed one show at The Nick in Birmingham, Alabama, under the name Cherry Valence (not to be confused with The Cherry Valence). For a time the band was also called Wheelie Ride, before it changed to Great Lakes.

Great Lakes station

Great Lakes is one of two railroad stations in North Chicago Illinois, served by Metra's Union Pacific/North Line. The station is officially located at 3000 South Sheridan Road, is 32.2 miles (51.8 km) away from Ogilvie Transportation Center, the inbound terminus of the Union Pacific/North Line, and also serves commuters who travel north to Kenosha, Wisconsin. In Metra's zone-based fare system, Great Lakes is in zone G.

It is named for the Great Lakes Naval Training Base in North Chicago and the City of North Chicago.

Parking is available at the end of Ohio Avenue which leads from the southern terminus of the Amstutz Expressway. Like Waukegan Station, Great Lakes Station serves as a stop for the Great Lakes Naval Training Center. Unlike Waukegan Station, however, the Naval training center surrounds much of Great Lakes Station, which is also located near the Shore Acres Country Club.

The connection to the Pace bus system has a boarding location near the main entrance to the naval station, it is also a location for taxi pick ups, and drop offs.

Great Lakes region

The Great Lakes region of North America is a bi-national Canadian-American region that includes portions of the eight U.S. states of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin as well as the Canadian province of Ontario. The region borders the Great Lakes and forms a distinctive historical, economic, and cultural identity. A portion of the region also encompasses most of the Great Lakes Megalopolis, which extends outside the region to St. Louis, Missouri.

The Great Lakes Commission, authorized by the region's American states and Province of Ontario, and the additional Canadian Province of Quebec, comprises a bi-national authority with specified powers to protect and preserve the water and environmental resources of the Great Lakes and surrounding waterways and aquifers. The Commission's authorities are confirmed by the Canadian and American federal governments, and by its constituent states and provinces.

The Great Lakes region takes its name from the corresponding geological formation of the Great Lakes Basin, a narrow watershed encompassing The Great Lakes, bounded by watersheds to the region's north (Hudson Bay), west (Mississippi), east and south (Ohio). To the east, the rivers of St. Lawrence, Richelieu, Hudson, Mohawk and Susquehanna form an arc of watersheds east to The Atlantic.