One of my past times is to find places to watch via live steaming on YouTube. Most recently, I revisited some cameras that show some of the freight ships on the Great Lakes of the USA. One thing has led to another and now I can really follow the ships!
(Image of Paul R Tregurtha entering Duluth Canal - from Boat Nerd and Gordon A Williams for educational purposes - please visit the website!)
There's something cool about watching these huge vessels which would take literally thousands of trucks to haul the same amount of product - and yet they float! I still find it amazing.
It's also very addictive to begin keeping track of which ships you've seen and which ones you still need to see.
Let me get you started on this fun addiction.
Duluth, Minnesota
This mid-sized Upper Midwestern city is situated at the extreme Western point of Lake Superior, the largest of the great lakes. The city's perfect location hosts a bustling port with multiple types of freight including taconite (a type of iron ore) and wheat. One of the most interesting things about this port include:
- It's ice bound in the winter.
- It has an unusual bridge which must lift to let the ships through.
Webcams for Duluth Harbor
This is the best camera to watch as ships come in. You can see the ships when they're about 2 miles out and/or when they are anchored waiting for a turn at port.
This is a great spot for catching which ships are going through. They are really, really close, are going slowly (5-6 knots) and these two cameras are really, really good.
Most of the time, when the ship comes in through this short canal, they will blow their horn at the bridge in sort of a salute. The bridge answers (usually with the same pattern the ship gives.) Most horns are low in pitch, but some ships (like the Dutch ones) have a much higher voice. Some captains do a short burst of blasts while others do longer ones - or even two sets!
If you're only going to watch one camera though, it should be the bridge camera.
It's worth noting that the bridge itself has a metal deck and is noisy as the cars cross.
The bridge operator makes an announcement and a bell rings the entire time the bridge is in motion.
The bridge lifts when the ship is 1.5 miles out (at sea) or about halfway along the harbor (when departing.) In either direction, the bridge is up about 10 minutes before the ship passes. (Note: there are other bridges in Duluth, so most residents are not inconvenienced by the bridge lifts.)
There are half a dozen (or so) other webcams with the Duluth Harbor Cam YouTube channel. Some of them (like the Duluth Harbor Cam and the Great Lakes Aquarium Cam) are great for watching ships maneuvering through the harbor area.
They also have a number of short clips of various ships arriving/departing throughout the year - including when it's very wintry and/or when the high waves swamp some of the watchers on the canal!
Tools for watching
Although the cameras are the most important part, you can make your watching more efficient by having several other links.
Harbor Lookout gives you a real-time view of which ships are in the harbor, what they're doing, when they're expected to arrive/depart (Central Time, USA) and which port. They even tell you what they are loading or unloading (most of the time.)
Marine Traffic is an amazing site that shows the most up-to-date information on most ships throughout the entire world! It's nearly real-time and doesn't require any sign-up unless you want to keep track of things (though the free account is quite limieted there.) You can even click on the ships and find out information about them.
Boat Nerd has a lot of information about the ships that sail the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence Seaway regularly. It's worth looking at if you want more information about the ships you see including which other ships are run by the same companies.
Duluth Harbor Marine Scanner is kind of fun to listen to if you're waiting for a ship to come in. This is how I found out that the bridge goes up when the ship's around 1.5 miles from the bridge.
Conclusion
So far, Duluth is my favorite place to watch ships. The excellent camera positions/angles plus other tools allow for avid ship watching unlike any other set of cameras I've seen yet. Plus, because the port is active 24-hours a day, 7 days a week, there's always a chance of being able to catch a ship, night or day (and the bridge is very beautiful at night.)
One day, I hope to visit Duluth in person, but for now, it's just the webcams and other tools.
Next time, I'll show you my next favorite ship-watching cameras. If you know of some other cameras that are great for ship-watching, please comment so that I can take a look!
This blog topic arose from my personal love of finding interesting places virtually. I learn so much about other parts of the world through Google Street View, webcams and many other ways from my computer. Learning about the world is always a good thing!
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Lori Svensen
author/designer at A'mara Books
photographer/graphic artist for Viking Visual
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